Press Contact

Sarah Outen - Press from launch of L2L

2011-04-20T14:06:00.005Z

Sarah Outen - Britain's most exciting female adventurer set off on Friday 1st April to do a loop of the globe......
She set off with the sound of the TV helicopter whizzing above, 100s cheering from HMS President and Tower Bridge, cheers from her family and the press on Royal Navy Escort Boats and snappers from the press capturing the start of her adventure.

Coverage gained included :
BBC News Channel
BBC East Midlands Today
Ch4 News

LBC
BBC Radio Leicester

The Times
he Metro
The Mirror

MSN

The Leicester Mercury
Rutland Times

National Geographic Kids

Press organised and managed by Press Contact

Walking The Amazon press

2011-01-30T19:47:00.003Z

On the 9th August 2010, Ed Stafford became the first person in history to walk the length of the Amazon River.
The world's media covered the story:

Press Contact/Vikki Rimmer amassed the following cuts for her client:

The story of ‘Walking The Amazon’, was featured around the world:
Individual broadcast news stories: UK, USA, South East Asia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Russia, India, South Africa, Portugal, France, Germany, Netherlands, Transylvania (!), Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico,

Reuters TV and Associated Press TV released the story on the wire. Their potential reach was 1 billion

Reach via CNNi – 240 territories worldwide (10 x 7 minute segments on WTA)
Clips were also hosted for 28 days on the BBC website and BBC World & BBC World Service

During the expedition we achieved good coverage internationally including:
TV Good Morning America ABC/Nightline ABC/Diane Sawyer Show
CNN International – featured Ed’s journey then followed him for a week each night (240 territories worldwide)
This Morning (ITV)
ITV News
BBC Breakfast

PrintThe Daily Mail (x3)
The Sun
The Guardian (x2)
The Times (x2)

MagazineMen’s Journal
FHM
CNN Traveller
Outer Edge (cover)
Geographical (cover)

RadioRadio One
A regular slot on George Lamb’s BBC6Music show
BBC Leicester

WebBBC Website
Guardian Online, Mail Online& countless adventure websites & walking websites around the globe including Reuters Brazil

RegionalThe regional press in the Leicestershire area, Ed’s home, have been supportive and covered his expedition regularly in print and on radio

Key link upsEd linked up with the Prince’s Rainforest Project. His weekly video blogs from the jungle excited interest in schools. www.walkingtheamazon.com.

Then from the 7th August, the cuttings are as follows.
Broadcast: TV News (9th August 2010)

Sky News
BBC NEWS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mpHYdzCwzk 9th
BBC News 11th with Hugh Edwards (live interview from heathrow)
BBC East Midlands Today
ITV Midlands
ITN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPcFjIdmEKg&feature=related
Five News
CH4: 7 min piece – now down.
Australia: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/ed-stafford-walk-length-of-amazon-river/story-e6frfq80-1225903271103
CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8rxhIglIBg&feature=related
ABC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BR1Rpj0vw&feature=related
AP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28zvyhmy-oA&feature=related
CNN – ‘World One’ followed Ed and Cho’s adventure each night for 2 and a half weeks: broadcasting to 241 territories worldwide
F2 – France: a news piece culled from ITN
Globo: Brazilian TV: News and a piece for ‘Fantastico!’ (their version of Panorama)
BBC World Service
BBC Web – both National and Leicester

WebCNN homepage three times during final week, then front page on final day
Yahoo/AOL/MSN
BBC web- hosted an interactive map of the trip with video blog and diary embedded along with audio and link ups to local BBC Leic/Ed stories and image galleries on Ed. This web content was utilised by BBC radio, BBC worldservice and their partners in the Spanish and English speaking world.

TV Features:
FOX News (domestic) America’s Newsroom
CNN Domestic: America’s Morning News
BBC Breakfast on the 8th and on the 16th
BBC The One Show
This Morning ITV

Radio news: included
NPR (National Public Radio) USA
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 5 Live (then a follow up interview with Gaby Logan on Five Live on the 16th August)

Press Cuts included:
New York Times front page
The Times front page for digital media
News features in: The Sun, Express, Daily Mail, Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, Metro, Asian News International

VIDEO: Man walks length of Amazon in two years

2010-08-13T19:30:00.000Z

VIDEO: Man walks length of Amazon in two years

Worldwide interest in Ed Stafford

2010-07-30T12:07:00.006Z

Press Contact's client Ed Stafford is being followed every day by CNN's 'One World' show in 240 territories worldwide. His story has been picked up in the Portugese press, Slovenian press, Turkish press, in the French press and Brazilian press today. Yesterday we heard from a Swiss journalist and were approached by another independent tv production company.

Stephen Fry Twittered about Ed as did the world-record holding cyclist Mark Beaumont.

Ed has 11 days to go......we wonder what's next?
www.walkingtheamazon.com

CNN follow Walking The Amazon daily

2010-07-29T21:01:00.005Z

CNN have committed to following Ed and Cho's final 13 days in the jungle as Ed bids to become the first man in history to walk the length of the Amazon River

Video links below:

British man continues Amazon walk updated 9 hours, 19 minutes ago
British explorer Ed Stafford shares video from his journey of walking the Amazon.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/07/29/pkg.walking.the.amazon.cnn Walking the Amazon updated 1 day ago
British adventurer Ed Stafford takes viewers along on his walk through the Amazon.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/07/24/brazil.walking.amazon.cnn

Walking with the 'Amazon man' updated 1 day ago
British adventurer Ed Stafford shares the medical issues he encounters while walking the Amazon.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/07/28/stafford.amazon.man.medical.cnn

From source to sea: An Amazonian walk on the wild side updated July 26, 2010
I wake up with the light, just before 6 a.m., and reach for my vitamin pills hanging above my hammock. I get out of bed and peer through the gloom to see if Cho is up yet and has started the fire. If so, I will probably go to the river and check the fishing net to see if we have a catch.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/26/americas.amazon.river.walk/index.html Explorer nears end of Amazon quest updated July 24, 2010

British explorer Ed Stafford talks to CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney as he nears the end of his epic quest to walk the Amazon.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/07/24/sweeney.stafford.amazon.walk.cnn

Vx

Ed Stafford in The Sun

2010-07-29T08:40:00.005Z

Ben Jackson, Environment Editor for The Sun covered Ed Stafford' Jungle expedition www.walkingtheamazon.com on 16th July 2010.

Ben's double page spread and web coverage brought awareness to the project and helped raise Ed's profile.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3056572/Ed-Stafford-is-first-man-to-walk-length-of-the-Amazon.html

Ben's piece:

Ed Stafford on ABC again: Good Morning America/Weekend

2010-06-08T09:33:00.005Z

Ed's Amazon story on ABC TV
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/jungle--10839014

Full story here:

The Spelling Society debate with the Queen's English Society

2010-06-08T08:58:00.005Z

The Spelling Society were asked to participate in a debate with the Queen's English Society in the hallowed pages of The Times yesterday. The central question being; do we need an Academy to look after the English language? France has the Academie Francaise, do we need an Academy of English to uphold the apostrophe's rightful place?

Jack Bovill, the Chair of the Society, appeared on BBC News to debate with the Queen's English Society's Chair Rhea Williams. Jack also appeared on World Service later in the day.

Jack Bovill from the Spelling Society, which calls for improving literacy standards in Britain, told The Times; 'while it's true that “23 percent of children emerge from school as functionally illiterate”, the proposed Academy of English runs the risk of becoming redundant if it refuses to adapt to modern changes and clings to the English of old.'

He said: “The creation of an academy will probably run the same risk as the French equivalent, whose authorities realised that French could die out if it didn't adapt. The Académie Française recently published 6,000 variant spellings. Language has to adapt to survive. The question is, do you do it deliberately or leave it to chance? While the QES may value what is around today, does it value what was around 100 years ago? It is very well meaning but caught in a bind.'

The story was picked up by the Hindustan Times in Indai, by the Agrentinian press and by Fortean Times.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145148.ece

The Spelling Society's press is managed by www.presscontact.co.uk

Walking The Amazon on ABC times 3

2010-05-25T08:54:00.007Z

Ed Stafford's amazing bid to become the first man to walk the length of the Amazon River has been profiled three times on ABC. He appeared first thing in the morning on Friday 21st May as Bill Weir's 'inspiration'.
The 6 minute film showed Ed's expedition to date and introduced Bill Weir and his intrepid producer/cameraman Bartley Price to the jungle for real.

Ed then apeared in the evening on the Diane Sawyer Show and again on Nightline later that evening.

Ed's story also got a big mention in Bill Weir's Reporter's Notebook on the ABC website.

The coverage garnered has brought Ed's expedition to the wider public in the US.

Visit: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Inspirations/bill-weir-inspired-man-walking-length-amazon-river/story?id=10705671&page=2

New Website for Press Contact & Good Morning America

2010-05-20T18:02:00.003Z

A new look has been designed by Danny WIlkins for Press Contact. The clean design and simple navigation hopefully reflects what we try to do.

Ed Stafford will appear on ABC's Good Morning America in tomorow morning after a small crew of two travelled down to the depths of the jungle to find Ed who's currently walking the Amazon River. www.walkingtheamazon.com

Freelancer of the Year 2008 web links

2009-03-05T17:33:00.003Z

From Freelance:UK

'Eight creatives have won the client-dazzling title ‘Freelancer of the Year’ having proved that their independent work for UK plc has been exemplary.

Their unparalleled contributions of services, including PR, marketing, design and editorial, have enriched outfits in major sectors like healthcare, IT and aviation.

The judging panel, staffed by industry captains, said they looked for the key traits of successful freelancers – flexibility, creativity, insight, discipline and value adding.

For creating a similarly “high impact” media campaign which boosted her client’s image and sparked a national debate, the PR Freelancer of the Year went to Vikki Rimmer.

Her work for the Spelling Society generated it unprecedented interest from the media, gifting it today a “strong PR legacy on which the society can continue to build.”

Like the seven other victors, her submission to the awards saw off more than 300 other freelancers all claiming to be, or nominated as, the best consultant in their field.

http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/886434/freelance-award-winners-revealed/

PR Freelance of the Year 2008: Vikki RImmer

2009-03-04T12:19:00.002Z

Freelance award winners revealed

PR Week, Kate Magee 02-Mar-09

Bowel Cancer UK's Ian Beaumont and the Spelling Society's Vikki Rimmer have won recruitment firm Xchangeteam's annual freelancer awards.

Ian Beaumont, Bowel Cancer UK's director of comms, was named Public Affairs Freelancer of the Year for the second year in a row.

Roger Majerski, Xchangeteam's public affairs expert said, 'For so niche an organisation as Bowel Cancer UK to punch so far above its weight is testimony to Ian's brave new style of public affairs campaigning, integrating media relations, harnessing third party advocates and bringing powerful case studies before decision makers.'

Meanwhile Vikki Rimmer picked up the PR & Communications Freelancer of the Year award. Rimmer was one of eleven finalists.

The category judge and last year's winner Rona Levin said: 'The changes brought about by Vikki's advice, coupled with her skill and creativity, enabled her to deliver a high-impact media campaign on a level never-before experienced by the Spelling Society.'

The Xchangeteam Freelancer of the Year Awards are now in their fifth year. PRWeek sponsored the Public Affairs and PR & Communications categories.

Americans 'embarased' by spelling - coverage on both side of the atlantic for the Spelling Society by Press Contact

2009-02-10T07:00:00.005Z

The Spelling Society asked Press Contact last September to help create a news story both here in the UK and the USA. After the success of their UK spelling survey in May 2008, the Society were keen to repeat the model in the USA. It's tricky undertaking a news story from the UK, pertaining to the USA. Press Contact agreed but said that we should also concentrate on getting coverage here in the UK too - as a back up.

Press Contact engaged the services of Ipsos MORI in January 2009. Using the same model used back in May 2008, MORI surveyed 1000 Americans on the question of spelling. The survey included questions such as 'do you or a member of your family have trouble spelling?' and 'would you be confident to fill out a job application form without the help of a spell checker?' These questions were followed by a spelling test utilising ten everyday words. The test was then followed by opinion statements such as - 'do you think spelling is worse now than it was ten years ago?' etc. etc. Full text and tables can be viewed at www.spellingsociety.org

The results that came back were perturbing, with over 50% of the population here in the UK unable to spell 'embarrassed' and over 60% failing to get the word right in the USA.

Men performed consistently worse than women in both the UK and USA.

All respondents were adults who had gone through the education system. We had a cross section of the population answering the survey, and post grad students and College graduates fared no better than their counter parts at vocational colleges.

UK Coverage:

The Times

The Telegraph

Americans embarrassed by poor spelling performance compared to Britons
Americans are worse at spelling than Britons, with more than half unable to spell "embarrassed", "liaison" and "millennium".

By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 12:01PM GMT 09 Feb 2009
Americans embarrassed by poor spelling performance compared to Britons
Sixty-two per cent of Americans got 'embarrassed' wrong, against 54 per cent of Britons who struggled with the word in a survey last year Photo: GETTY

Despite the popularity of school spelling bee competitions, adults in the US fared poorly in a survey comparing how English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic deal with commonly misspelt words.

Sixty-two per cent of Americans got "embarrassed" wrong, against 54 per cent of Britons who struggled with the word in a survey last year.

Adults in the US performed less well on most of the ten words tested, including millennium (52 per cent wrong, against 43 per cent in UK), liaison (61 per cent to 54 per cent) and "accommodation" (42 per cent to 36 per cent).

Only "definitely" and "friend" were spelt correctly by more Americans.

Professor Edward Baranowski of California State University said that the results reflected the "horrific" drop-out rates of US high schools.

"This certainly puts an eventual strain upon the universities, which must devote lots of resources to remedial education," he said.

Jack Bovill of the Spelling Society, which commissioned the research, said the high inaccuracy rates in both countries showed the need for the English spelling system to be modernised to improve literacy.

"When asked, only a quarter of adults thought they had a problem with spelling. The answers in the test prove that this is far from the case," he said. "What is holding the UK and the USA back is the irregular spelling system."

The Spelling Society wants a cross-party committee of MPs to promote spelling reforms.

The US survey involvING a sample of 1,000 adults was carried out online by Ipsos MORI last month, with the method based on a survey of 1,000 Britons in April last year.

BBC Wales

BBC Sheffield

BBC 3 Counties

USA Coverage:

Washington Post

Washington Times

CNBC

Reuters

KMV.com

Movember

2008-11-05T14:53:00.002Z

Luke Collyer appears on BBC Breakfast with Mark Barrowcliffe

2008-10-22T09:38:00.003Z

Returning home from Walking The Amazon, Luke Collyer dealt well with the numerous media enquiries that arose off the back of the press release sent out by Press Contact to announce that he would no longer be walking the amazon alongside Ed Stafford.

Luke appeared on BBC Breakfast to duscuss the issue alongside novelist Mark Barrowcliffe.

Mark Barrowcliffe has since been out to meet Ed in the jungle and is writing up his experiences...............

Daily Mail pick up on Walking The Amazon press release sent out by Vikki RImmer

2008-10-22T09:35:00.003Z

Two friends on 18-month Amazon trek fall out after just 68 days - in row over iPod

By Paul Sims and Niall Firth
Last updated at 4:51 PM on 10th July 2008
Comments (0) Add to My Stories

When friends Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer decided to set out on their adventure of a lifetime they thought they had prepared for every eventuality.
Packed with equipment for their epic trip across the Andes the two young adventurers were ready to tackle snakes, Maoist guerrillas and more than 4000 miles of jungle paths.
What they hadn't counted on, however, was how they’d cope with each other’s company.
Ed Stafford (right) and Luke Collyer planned to walk the Amazon until they fell out
The two Britons Stafford, 37, and Collyer, 32, had planned to walk the entire route of the Amazon from source to its mouth – a massive trek that had never before been attempted.
The trip was due to last around 18 months but within 68 days the two had fallen out – over an iPod.
Last week, Stafford lost his temper when Collyer asked for a supply parcel to be sent which only contained one MP3 player.
Writing on the expedition’s blog, Stafford wrote:

‘I insisted that Luke wrote an email to ... his fiancee's mother, asking her to only send specific items essential to the expedition.
'I could tell he was not happy but I wanted to make sure we were not sending stuff unnecessarily. On the list Luke read to me was 1 x MP3 player.
‘This annoyed me, as he had told me he was ordering one and offered to get me one too.
‘I said to him, 'Mate, why have you only put 1 x MP3 player? You know that I wanted one too.'
‘'Because I'm leaving the expedition, that one's for you,' said Luke.
Stafford continues: 'There was a hint of defiance in his voice but mostly tiredness.

'We need to discuss this.? I said, my leg actually staring to tremble because of the gravity of the situation.

'No point, Luke replied, I have been waiting to tell you for a while now my mind is made up.'
They set off on April 2 from the source of the Amazon river in southern Peru to the mouth in Brazil but within weeks had fallen out on several occasions.
Early last week Stafford, from Leicester, wrote: 'If I'm honest at this stage the hardest thing has been getting on well with Luke ...

'Basically when your brain has nothing to focus on it can direct this energy into the only thing it can - your partner! We knew that we could be susceptible to this but underestimated the degree.'

The pair were attempting to walk the entire 4000 mile length of the Amazon through thick jungle
'I have to agree with Ed on this,' Collyer wrote. 'So far we have had to deal with dry arid desert conditions, altitude, snow and freezing temperatures, steep climbs followed by steep descents, and fast flowing rivers. But the real test has definitely been with each other.'
The exact reason why the pair failed to get along remains unclear but according to their public relations team it had more to do with the stresses of the expedition than any bad blood.

Their spokeswoman, Vikki Rimmer, said : 'The expedition is incredibly tough both physically and mentally.

'Their back packs are 45lbs each and yet they're climbing mountains and wading through jungle.

'It's an enormous undertaking for anyone, let alone experienced adventurers like Ed and Luke.

'It's not a walk in the park and is something that will test every part of you and Luke has a fiance back home, so maybe he couldn't bear to be apart from her any longer.'

In the meantime Stafford is seeking a new companion and has instructed a survival expert, a good friend and, more importantly, his mother to sit on a selection panel back in the UK.
Battling on alone: Ed Stafford has advertised for a new trekking partner to join him on his epic voyage
In his blog entry on Wednesday, Stafford has said that he will battle on alone.
"Luke left this morning at 5am on the bus to Lima. From there he will fly home to the UK. It was a funny day walking without him but the expedition goes on.
Meanwhile, Stafford’s press release is quite specific in the qualities required in a potential trek buddy:
‘Must have GSOH, no fear of snakes or gun-toting guerrillas, have three months to spare, an interest in the environment and an ability to walk long distances without asking 'are we nearly there yet?’
Whilst Stafford headed into the Peruvian jungle controlled by the Maoist Shining Path guerilla group, Collyer claimed he had decided to quit the expedition to preserve his friendship.
'I didn't want to end up bitter and angry with [Ed] after two years, and our friendship meant a lot to me,' he said.

In response his former partner added: 'I'd like to say thanks for everything mate and good luck in whatever you decided to do now.'

Guardian article - Walking The Amazon

2008-10-22T09:32:00.001Z

Wanted: new partner for 3,000-mile Amazon trek - must have own iPodRow over MP3 player is final straw for adventurers facing piranhas, peaks and MaoistsEsther Addley The Guardian, Thursday July 10 2008 Article history The pair were equipped to cope with Amazonian perils such as piranhas. Photograph: Ricardo Beliel/Alamy

It was to be the expedition of a lifetime, two friends and adventurers who set out to complete the first source-to-mouth walk of the Amazon, a 4,000-mile trek which they expected would take 18 months.

But while Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer had foreseen everything from piranhas to Andean peaks and Maoist revolutionaries, they could not prepare for something a little more prosaic - falling out over an MP3 player.

Today Collyer, 37, an outdoor activities instructor originally from Sussex, is in Lima awaiting a flight back to the UK while Stafford, a 32-year-old former army captain from Leicester, is hacking his way through dense Peruvian jungle alone, after the pair had a bust-up having completed only an eighth of their journey.

Stafford is advertising for a new companion - one with whom he can get along. As a press release issued yesterday put it: "Must have GSOH, no fear of snakes or gun-toting guerrillas, have three months to spare, an interest in the environment and an ability to walk long distances without asking 'are we nearly there yet?'"

Ed Stafford (left) and Luke Collyer found the ultimate test was each other The pair, both experienced adventurers, have known each other since 2004 when they met while leading separate expeditions to Belize and got on "like a house on fire". They decided to embark on the record-breaking walk, Stafford recently wrote on the expedition blog, "over a drink".

The intention was to raise awareness of climate change and raise funds for a number of medical and conservation charities. "We came to the decision that walking the river would provide us with the ultimate challenge that we were looking for. The fact that no one had ever done it before was hugely exciting and has spurred us on to get to the mouth."

Almost 90 days in, the strain was showing. Early last week Stafford wrote: "If I'm honest at this stage the hardest thing has been getting on well with Luke ... Basically when your brain has nothing to focus on it can direct this energy into the only thing it can - your partner! We knew that we could be susceptible to this but underestimated the degree."

"I have to agree with Ed on this," Collyer wrote. "So far we have had to deal with dry arid desert conditions, altitude, snow and freezing temperatures, steep climbs followed by steep descents, and fast flowing rivers. But the real test has definitely been with each other."

Exactly what the problem was remains unclear, though according to the expedition's PR representative, Vikki Rimmer: "They admit they weren't good at expressing their feelings." The final straw came last Thursday when Stafford admits he got into "a bit of a mardy" over a supply parcel that Collyer had ordered from the UK which he feared would be too heavy.

"I insisted that Luke wrote an email to ... his fiancee's mother, asking her to only send specific items essential to the expedition. I could tell he was not happy but I wanted to make sure we were not sending stuff unnecessarily. On the list Luke read to me was 1 x MP3 player. This annoyed me, as he had told me he was ordering one and offered to get me one too.

"I said to him, 'Mate, why have you only put 1 x MP3 player? You know that I wanted one too.'

"'Because I'm leaving the expedition, that one's for you,' said Luke."

Neither man was available for comment yesterday - Stafford's satellite phone, according to Rimmer, was off, while she had no contact for Collyer in Lima.

Stafford is currently in an area of Peruvian jungle controlled by the Maoist Shining Path guerilla group, she said, which along with the dense jungle canopy meant he might be unable to power up his internet connection to check his email or update his blog. She was keen to stress that the split had been as amicable as possible, releasing comments from the two men wishing each other well.

"I didn't want to end up bitter and angry with [Ed] after two years, and our friendship meant a lot to me," Collyer said.

"I'd like to say thanks for everything mate and good luck in whatever you decided to do now," his former partner responded.

The website might suggest otherwise, however. Collyer's photograph, and any mention of him, have been removed from the home page, which now reads: "On April 2nd 2008, Ed Stafford started his attempt to walk over 4,000 miles from the source of the Amazon river in southern Peru to the mouth in Brazil. The expedition will be uninterrupted ..."

Rimmer said this omission was because Collyer had yet to confirm how he would like to be represented on the site, and insisted there was no ill-feeling between the two men.

The new companion, she said, would be selected by a panel put together in the UK, comprising a survival expert - who would know the levels of experience and fitness required - a close friend of Stafford who could advise whether they would get on, and his mum.

The type of person sought? "I think that it would need to be someone who wouldn't hold Ed up or cause him any problems."

Might that mean someone who would defer to his leadership a little more than Stafford had done? "That might be fair," Rimmer said.

David CAmeron mentions the Speling Society in his Conference Speech

2008-10-22T07:33:00.003Z

David Cameron's conference speech was memorable for its mention of the Spelling Society.
The Society employed Press Contact in order to 'raise awareness' of the Society and the issues faced.

A mention in the speech by the PM in waiting, was 'awareness' indeed!

No other Societies were mentioned in his speech. Clearly he'd been reading some of the cuttings......see below list.

Spelling Society press articles for the last quarter

2008-10-22T07:31:00.001Z

Press release in response to Dr Ken Smith – August 2008

Vikki received a call from The Times to alert her to an article that was being published the following day in the THES. The article in question was written by Dr Ken Smith. Vikki contacted the THES and asked the editorial team to read her the article. After taking notes, she spoke to Jack and they compiled a response to Dr Smith’s article, which they then sent out to 600 radio and television contacts, timed to land on producers and bookers desks the morning the THES was published. Most radio stations and TV news gathering services only take the broadsheets and tabloids and do not take the education supplements . The press release was also sent to the Press Association and released to all print outlets. The resulting publicity to his ‘little article’ took Dr Smith by surprise, but achieved a great deal of positive PR for the Society, along with awareness of the aims.

PRINT MEDIA:

1. The Times: 7th August 2008
August 7, 2008
Alexandra Frean, Education editor
‘I’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. Or maybe not
Time to give up on spelling, says academic’

2. The Telegraph 7th August 2008
Graeme Paton, Education editor
‘University students cannot spell’

3. The Daily Mail
By Laura Clark
Last updated at 9:36 AM on 07th August 2008
‘The spell is broken: Lecturer calls for spelling amnesty on students' top 20 errors’

4.Guardian: Mortarboard 7th August 2008
By Anthea Lipsett
Does Student Spelling matter?

5. The Press Association 7th August 2008
‘Misspelt words should be accepted’

6. Buckingham Free Press 7th August 2008
‘Lecturer: overlook common spelling mistakes’
By Oliver Evans
7. Glasgow Daily Record 8th August 2008
Alison Kershaw
‘Common misspellings should become part of language, says professor’

8. Daily Squib (Satire) 9th August 2008
‘Renowned Chav Professor Advocates Use of SMS Text Language and Spelling Errors’
9. Time Magazine :11th August 2008

BLOG ENTRIES:
Ten and counting.

TELEVISION:

1. Newsround BBC Children’s Television Thursday 7th August 2008: Jack Bovill
2. BBC News Channel: August 7th 2008 – Jack Bovill
3. BBC News Channel August 9th – Jack Bovill: two slots at 7:50am and 8:50 am

RADIO:
7th August
1. BBC Worldservice: 7th August 2008: Jack Bovill
2. Radio Five Live Simon Mayo Show (2 million listeners) 7th August: Jack Bovill
3. BBC Wales: (1.2 million listeners) 7th August: Vikki Rimmer
4. BBC Radio Sheffield: Jack Bovill
5. BBC Tees: Jack Bovill
6. Siren FM (twice) Jack Bovill
7. BBC Jersey: Vikki Rimmer
8. Mercury FM: Vikki Rimmer
9. BBC Northants: Jack Bovill
10. BBC 3 Counties: Jack Bovill
11. BBC Newcastle: Jack Bovill
8th August
12. BBC Birmingham (Janice Long show) Jack Bovill 9th August
13. BBC Radio Kent: Jack Bovill
9th August
14. Jack FM (Oxford) Jack Bovill
11th August
15. Good Morning Ulster: Jack Bovill
16. Liverpool City Talk: Jack Bovill
17. Dublin 202 – Jack Bovill
Articles that mention Ken Smith but not the Spelling Society: Daily Mirror/ Daily Express 8th August 2008
Sky News on line, BBC News on line, Reuters.

Centenary Dinner PR – Beginning of Sept 2008A press release drafted by Professor Wells, sent out by Vikki on the 8th September to over 1,000 recipients in the media, along with MP’s and MEP’s indicating an interest in the subject of ‘education’.

The response (in terms of numbers) was similar to the press garnered the preceding month when we sent out a press release to coincide with the publication of Dr Ken Smith’s THES article. However, the response was not as supportive, nor as understanding as the two previous campaigns which seemed to generate a spirit of understanding with regards to the Society’s aims. This pres release did, in some ways, generate confusion as to the aims of the Society.

Radio & ~TV line-up: for 9th September
BBC Breakfast TV – 7:15
BBC World Service 08.25 The World Today (done)
BBC World Service 10.40 World Update (done)
BFBS radio 15.40
BBC R Berks 16.10
BBC R5 17.25
BBC R London 17.50
Sky News TV 19.20
tomorrow:
BBC R Wales 07.15

Press Cuttings:
The Guardian
Press Association
The Times
The Telegraph
Daly Mail
Teletext UK

The Independent (24th Sept)

Financial Times 27th Sept:

Plymouth Evening Herald (17th Sept)
South Manchester Reporter (18th Sept)
Calcutta Telegraph (30th Sept)

The Lawyer (2nd Oct )

Amazon guys placed in The Times

2008-06-21T19:48:00.005Z

Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer made it in to the pages of The times,
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/youngtimes090608.pdf
FHM and Nuts on line. All three publications responded to the press release sent out by Vikki Rimmer on the guys behalf.

Walking The Amazon: www.walkingtheamazon.com

The Spelling Society on BBC ONE'S The One Show

2008-06-21T19:42:00.003Z

The Spelling Society appeared on BBC ONE'S popular One Show on Friday June 6th 2008. Dr John Gledhill chatted to Giles Brandreth about The Spelling Society and spelling in the UK.

The One Show dedicated 8 minutes of the show to the thorny issues of spelling, and reform. Giles Brandreth argued that the current English spelling system left many confused.

The Spelling Society were placed on The One Show by Vikki Rimmer/Press Contact.

Spelling Society on BBC Breakfast

2008-06-21T19:38:00.004Z

Following the publication of the Spelling Society's research on the current state of UK spelling, BBC Breakfast invited Jack Bovill - chair of the Society to come and sit on the famous sofa and chat to the Breakfast team about spelling.

Vikki Rimmer followed Jack on to the BBC Breakfast sofa and discussed the thorny issue of spelling.

Jack then went on to do a tour of regional radio stations and national TV news - appearing on BBC News 24 and Five News.

Telegraph kicks off a great press campaign for The Spelling Society in June

2008-06-21T19:33:00.004Z

To celebrate their 100th birthday, The Spelling Society commissioned a study to look at the current state of spelling in the UK.

The results were published by Press Contact, and were sent out nationally and regionally to broadcasters and print media. The response was interesting.

The Telegraph were the first to publish the results of the study.

Does spelling leave you embarrassed?
By Tom Peterkin
Last Updated: 3:22AM BST 23/05/2008 | Comments 98 | Have Your Say
Around half of British adults are unable to spell commonly used words such as embarrassed, liaison or millennium, research has disclosed.
Pupils of Harrow public school filing past their headmaster Dr J L James on Founders Day
GETTY
Those surveyed blamed poor spelling on parents and teachers

More than a quarter of those surveyed struggled to spell definitely, accidentally and separate.

One in three Britons had trouble spelling and was not confident enough to fill in an application form without resorting to a dictionary or spell checker.

The under-35s were more likely to be uncomfortable filling in a job application form than their parents or the over-55s.
Thirty-five per cent of under-24s relied on some form of spell check compared with 13 per cent of over-55s.

For the study, 1,000 people were asked to spell 10 commonly used words.

Every word was misspelled by somebody.

The survey commissioned by the Spelling Society, an organisation campaigning for the simplification of spelling, showed that those in the North were worse at spelling than their southern counterparts.

Tim Hutt, of ICD research, which carried out the study, said: "Embarrassed is most likely to be spelt incorrectly at 54 per cent incorrect rate. However, 63 per cent in the North East spelt the word wrongly compared with 51 per cent in South East and South West."

Those surveyed blamed poor spelling on parents and teachers, with three quarters believing that spelling among children had declined over the past 10 years.

But John Gledhill, of the Spelling Society, said: "It is not the fault of the teachers, nor of the students, but of the archaic spelling system which they have to learn.

"We are, in effect, still using 16th-century spelling for a 21st-century language, and grammar and pronunciation have changed since then, with the written language lagging a couple of centuries behind."

Percentage of those who spelt the following words incorrectly:

Embarrassed - 54

Liaison - 46

Millennium - 43

Definitely - 37

Accommodation - 36

Accidentally - 26

Separate - 25

Attempted - 8

Appeared - 6

Friend - 3

What are the words you have difficulty spelling?

Press Contact places the Spelling Society across the UK

2008-06-17T20:36:00.003Z

Press Contact has placed the Spelling Society across 19 radio stations in the UK in the last three weeks, including Radio Five Live. The Spelling Society also featured twice on BBC Breakfast and on Channel Five news. BBC TV's The One Show devoted 6 minutes to the Spelling Society and print coverage was garnered in The Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and regional newspapers.

The Wall Street Journal also covered a Spelling Society story.

The Spelling Society celebrated their 100th birthday at Coventry University with a conference entitled 'The Cost of English Spelling'. The conference ran over two days - 7-8th June 2008.

The below figures show the radio coverage in the UK:

1) Market: Northeast/Northwest [UP]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 5:00pm Aired On: BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE Show: JON AND ANNE

17:13:41.00 Jon and anne: discussion about difficult words to spell. Some of the difficult words were listed by the spelling society. Top stories. Weather and traffic (TRT=00:11)
17:37:19.00 Jon and anne: discussion about survey of the spelling society "jack bovill", chairman of the spelling society. Discussion about the problem words where people stumble. Discussion about how to remember spellings (TRT=00:11)

2) Market: Scotland [UW]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 4:00pm Aired On: BBC RADIO SCOTLAND Show: NEWSDRIVE

16:54:08.00 "Marine conservation society spokesman calum duncan." Bbc scotland-news drive: discussion about spelling embarrass. In a survey by the spelling society more than half of those question got it wrong. "Vox pop." "Jack bovill, spelling society." Logger-snsharib (TRT=06:53)

3) Market: United Kingdom [UK]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 8:00am Aired On: BBC ONE NATIONAL Show: BREAKFAST

08:18:54.00 Join the club if youre struggling. A survey of 1,000 people join the club if youre struggling. Spelling society found that many were stumped by the words. We set the good folk of west london a challenge. T m B A s e macrO d e macro F e mbA a S e m bA now i feel embarrassed (TRT=10:00)
08:20:24.00 Full marks to that young lady at the end. You just wanted to put him out of his misery. Lets speak rimmer from the spelling society and a broadcaster and writer, simon fanshawe. You write on and a broadcaster and writer, simon wrote a book on manners and behaviour. Can you spell etiquette? (TRT=10:00)
08:22:19.00 Is that a possibility? It is. The spelling society are interested in the awareness of the situation and the problem. I dont think people realise that spelling is at the root of a lot of literary problems. Root of a lot of literary problems. The way we spellers difficult. A third of people in the survey said they had a problem with spelling (TRT=10:00)

4) Market: United Kingdom [UK]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 8:00am Aired On: BBC NEWS 24 Show: BREAKFAST

08:18:51.00 Or separate? It is harder in join the club if youre struggling. A survey of 1,000 people by the spelling society found that many were stumped by the words. We set the good folk of west london a challenge. T m B a s e macrO D e macro F e mbA a s S e m bA now i feel embarrassed (TRT=10:00)
08:20:19.00 Full marks to that young lady at the end. You just wanted to put him out of his misery. Lets rimmer from the spelling society and a broadcaster and writer, simon fanshawe. You write on etiquette? I wrote a book on manners and behaviour (TRT=10:00)
08:22:19.00 Is that a possibility? It is. The spelling society are interested in the awareness of the situation and the problem. I dont think people realise that spelling is at root of a lot of literary problems. The way we spellers difficult. A third of people in the survey said they had a problem with spelling (TRT=10:00)

5) Market: UK Radio [ZR]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 8:00am Aired On: BBC RADIO 5 LIVE Show: BREAKFAST

08:24:42.00 Breakfast: discussion about burma, burmas ruling military have agreed to allow all aid workers in. Breakfast: discussion with "jack bovill, chairman spelling society" about spelling, around half of british adults are unable to spell commonly used words such as embarrassed, liaison or millennium. More than a quarter of those surveyed struggled to spell definitely, accidentally and separate. Weather (TRT=10:00)

6) Market: National London [VD]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 7:00am Aired On: LBC 97.3 FM Show: NICK FERRARI

07:37:42.00 Lbc 973-nick ferrari: discussion with john gledhill, of the spelling society about the spelling society which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, says its time for the english language to drag itself into the modern world, it help lot of people problem of spelling certain important words. In us spelling bee competition. Solution to spell words correctly and its problem (TRT=02:20)

7) Market: United Kingdom [UK]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 6:00am Aired On: BBC ONE NATIONAL Show: BREAKFAST

06:43:39.00 You cant? Well join the club, because i cant either. A survey of a thousand people by the spelling society found that many were stumped by the word. We set the good folk of west lnd a challenge. EmbA double resed (TRT=10:00)
06:45:14.00 Sometimes you can see things more quickly. Bg / 888 see things more quickly. With us now the chairman of the spelling bg / 888 now the chairman of the spelling society. Good morning to you. That is part of the problem, isnt it, that you if you see it in your head it is harder? (TRT=10:00)
06:45:39.00 Some people see things visually. I voice the cape in knife, for example. Are you chairman of the spelling society because you are good at spelling of because you were very bad at it and he decided to address the because you were very bad at it and because you were very bad at it and he decided to address the issue? I am very good at chairing meetings! How good is your spelling? (TRT=10:00)

8) Market: United Kingdom [UK]
Date: 23/05/2008 Time: 6:00am Aired On: BBC NEWS 24 Show: BREAKFAST

06:45:10.00 Its harder saying it than writing it down. Sometimes you can see things more quickly. With us now the chairman of the spelling society. Good morning to you. That is part of the problem, isnt it, that you if you see it in your head it is harder? (TRT=10:00)
06:45:34.00 Some people see things visually. I voice the cape in knife, for example. Are you chairman of the spelling society because you are good at spelling of because you were very bad at it and he decided to address the issue? I am very good at chairing meetings! How good is your spelling? (TRT=10:00)

9) Market: Northern Ireland [UZ]
Date: 22/05/2008 Time: 6:00pm Aired On: BBC RADIO ULSTER Show: EVENING EXTRA

18:21:04.00 Evening extra: discussion: crewe and nantwich bi-election. A voting is underway in the crewe and nantwich bi-election today, the contest follows the death of the long serving labour mp gwyneth dunwoody last month. Evening extra: discussion: according to new research commissioned by the spellings society shows pupil in the northern ireland society are top of the class when it comes to spelling. "Spellings society publicist vikki rimmer", talking about the problems of school pupil unable to spell the words correctly. Headlines. Weather (TRT=07:00)

10) Market: Northeast/Northwest [UP]
Date: 12/05/2008 Time: 9:00am Aired On: CITY TALK (LIVERPOOL) Show: DUNCAN BARKES

09:21:20.00 Duncan barkes: discussion with "jack bovill, chairman of the simplified spelling society" on secondary pupils struggling with spelling. Experts said it should be second nature for 11-year-old children to spell simple words and that accurate spelling and grammar were crucial for children to be able to express themselves clearly. Behind the governments hype about improving performance we can see the pupils are still struggling with basic spelling and the building blocks of literacy (TRT=08:46)

11) Market: Southwest [UM]
Date: 08/05/2008 Time: 6:30am Aired On: BBC RADIO SOLENT Show: THE JULIAN CLEGG PROGRAMME

06:46:34.00 The julian clegg programme: discussion with "john gledhill, constable with hampshire police marine unit" about solent sea dogs. Sports: cricket update. The julian clegg programme: discussion about a couple how they enjoyed there journey all the way through france into santiago with a donkey and cart (TRT=07:15)

Tom Hart Dyke searches for a new name for his Cacti House

2008-01-29T21:21:00.000Z

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
Or…that which we call a Cacti & succulent house
May be one to keep…..….?

The, as yet, un-named, Cacti & Succulent House, World Garden, Lullingstone
Tom Hart Dyke’s all new Cacti and Succulent House, part of the World Garden at Lullingstone Castle, will be unveiled on Saturday 22nd March when the famous Tudor House and grounds opens its gates for the 2008 season. Tom is busy plant up the beds. In fact he's so busy he's forgotten to come up with a new name for the 'Cacti House'. Tom says: 'I don't really know what to call it, it would kill me to call it 'The Cacti & Succulent House' - that's so boring! We're in need of some assistance here with the name and we'd love to throw it open to the public'.

The new plant House will contain close to 1,000 species of cacti and succulents collected by modern day plant hunter Tom Hart Dyke. Tom says: ‘'In terms of horticulture, it's going to be amazing - and it should even rival Kew! We’ve invited Mr Cactus himself – Jim Earles from Eltham, to come and open the new House. Jim is wonderful, an absolute expert on the ‘pricklies’, he donated thirteen Golden Barrell Cacti, thought to be extinct in the wild.'

Cacti Jim's Golden Balls will have pride of place in the Mexican border. The Cacti House will be laid out in five beds, roughly corresponding to the shape of South West USA, South East USA, Mexico as the central roundabout and South Africa and South America, mirroring the outline of Tom's famous World Garden (WG) laid out in the shape of a map of the world. Every plant grown in the cactus house will be exclusive to that structure and won't be repeated outside in the WG itself.

At 58 foot long, 23 foot wide and 16 foot high at its highest point, the new House will cover the entire south wall of the WG, sitting on the site of the ancient Glass Houses from the Edwardian days. The new structure to house Tom's amazing collection of Cacti and Succulents has been erected, with proper ventilation, and gravel has been laid.

Tom says: Ventilation will be very important, looking to keep it 5 degrees c minimum. Wheel chair access is a must, so we've built the path at 3 foot 6 wide, on level ground so that it's easy to negotiate. The beds themselves will be a mixture (no soil) of gravel, stones, flint, coal, charcoal to give drainage, and will be raised a maximum of a metre from the ground. I'm currently considering using purple sand!'

But what's in a name?
Tom's own suggestion; 'The Xeraphytic House' fell on deaf ears at Lullingstone - most of the volunteers were left wondering what he was going on about. Tom says: 'It's not the first time, I've had my volunteers lost for words! Xeraphytic sounds pretty good to me - it means lover of dry and arid climes - but I'm also aware that it's not exactly a catchy name for the new House which will contain over 1,000 species of Cacti and Succulents from across the globe'.

Tom says: ' We'll have lot s of really tall cacti from South America – Cleisto cactus with a big tall colomnus furry spikes. Mexico will hold the thirteen golden Barrel cactus – which were donated by Cactus Jim (Jim Earles from Eltham) thought to be extinct in the wild. The South African border will contain fabulous succulents.'

Suggestions to: cacti@presscontact.co.uk or via www.lullingstonecastle.co.uk or by post to Tom Hart Dyke, Lullingstone Castle, Eynsford, Kent DA4 0JA

Press enquiries: to Vikki@presscontact.co.uk 07886673412 or 01322 866293

Lullingstone Castle & The World Garden open on Saturday 22nd March details www.lullingstonecastle.co.uk 01322 862114

Working with the explorers

2008-01-17T20:10:00.000Z

There seems to be a theme developing of late...... and it involves fit young men who travel to the ends of the earth to satiate their passion. Yep, I've been working with some explorers.

Having worked with Tom Hart Dyke for the past four years I'm used to the lengths guys will go to make their dreams a reality. Tom brought home an idea for a garden, created in the depths of the Colombian jungle, and built it within the grounds of his family's Castle. Not an average challenge or a 9 to 5 endeavour.

Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer aren't your average thirty-something guys either. In April they will begin their 4,000 mile walk along the banks of the amazon river. Ed and Luke hope to highlight the perils of climate change by keeping a comprehensive educational blog at www.walkingtheamazon.com

Ed and Luke will walk the Amazon for approximately 16 months, carrying only what they can fit into their rucksacks. They're also taking some pretty funky technological kit with them. In order to 'blog'camera footage from the depths of the jungle, they'll need to unfurl their rolled up solar panels and plug in their chargers and laptops. The camera's they're taking, courtesy of Sony and Ginger TV, aren't small either.....leaving me to wonder, what they'll actually be taking in their rucksacks in terms of survival aids! .....erm.....pants????
Ed and Luke's Top Five Survival Tips…

Water. You cannot survive for more than a couple of days if you run out of water. How much do you have on you and where might you look for fresh water? Head downhill to find water courses - moving water is better than stagnant. Boil if possible to purify. If there are no streams then you can also make rain traps and find water vines.
Shelter. Protection from the elements is essential for cooking and sleeping. If you don't have any materials then palm leaves can be easily fashioned into a thatch on a basic wooden structure. A machete is invaluable for this job.
Fire. As well as being essential for cooking, purifying water, and keeping insects at bay, a fire is also fantastic for morale. Great jungle telly for those long evenings.
Food. This is the least essential survival priority. You can go for weeks without food and should ensure the first three priorities are covered before you start looking for food. Palm hearts are readily available and there are many seasonal fruits and nuts that can be foraged for. Fishing is the easiest way of getting protein although termites make a less tasty alternative.
Positivity. A positive attitude and keeping yourself busy and active will ensure that you survive. Your attitude towards a survival situation is the key to success. Enjoy it.

Alternatively…

Never eat yellow snow
Always use a condom
Follow your kebab to find your way home
Always carry a towel
Always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere

PRWeek Awards Freelance Achievement 2007: Vikki Rimmer

2007-10-25T10:22:00.000Z

'Can't quite believe it, but I won.' Probably not the most eloquently constructed sentence I've ever written, but it's going to rank up there as one of my favourites!

It's been a long and difficult journey to get to this point, and not just the last 20 yards in my gold six inch sandals!.. I wasn't expecting to win, the other two finalists had completed some superb work in the past year and were fantastic finalists. So, I nearly choked on my truffle when they announced my name as winner, my first thought was, 'Oh my god, I've got to go up on stage!'

Picked up my award from Dara O'Brien, had my picture taken, then lugged the hefty beast (the award, not Dara) back to the table, and my half eaten truffle.

PRWeek Editor, Danny Rogers said: 'Vikki Rimmer has worked magic for her clients, achieving results even they hadn't expected'. Ta Danny!

PRWeek said: 'Rimmer will have been a freelancer for three years in January, but she has already made her significant mark in the UK PR freelance market. Rimmer dismisses money as the factor driving her PR career, preferring to cite 'creativity and engagement' instead. She is indeed an inspiration for the UK's very best PR practitioners.'

Maria Boyle and Amanda Johnson were both Highly Commended by PRWeek for their outstanding work this year.

Al Gore won Communicator of The Year 2007. (Gutted I never got to meet Al!)

Press Contact: Finalist PR Week Awards 2007

2007-10-21T17:14:00.000Z
Battling a horrid bout of the flu, the beginning of October started out as the worst month of the year for Press Contact. It ain't easy being freelance when you've got a temperature and full on 'Man Flu'. However, all the aches and pains receeded into the background when I learnt last week that I'd been selected as a finalist for Freelance Achievement 2007 by the 21st Annual PR Week Awards.

It's a huge achievement for me to get this far. Recognition from the industry means so much. Working on your own at home, you can sometimes wonder if you're 'doing it right'.

I think I'm supposed to add this to the bottom of my correspondence now: Vikki Rimmer, Finalist PRWeek Awards 2007........... We'll see.

The Guardian agrees; 'enuf said'

2007-06-05T13:48:00.000Z

She cud have stayed at home. But she thawt she shud go. Retired English teacher Masha Bell, from Dorset, will travel to Washington DC to picket the American National Spelling Bee this week. Bell is fighting for words such as "could", "cough" and "should" to be spelt the way they sound - that is, "cud", "coff" and "shud". She intends to stand outside with placards reading "enuf is enuf" and "we are thru with through". "Because of the way we spell, millions of English speakers have trouble learning to read, let alone spell," Bell argues. Enuf sed.

Press & Publicity: Vikki@presscontact.co.uk

Media Buzz around the Spelling Bee Picket

2007-06-05T13:33:00.000Z

The Simplified Spelling Society were in the news again in the last week of May as they congregated at the Scripps' Spelling Bee competition to protest the problems inherent in the English spelling system.

The Times covered the picket and their piece on line was one of the most forwarded of the day.
Masha Bell from Dorset caught the attention of the media and made an appearance on GMTV, live from Washington.
Masha and the other picketers, from around the globe also caught the attention of CNN and ABC.

Print media in America is obsessed yearly with the competition, but this year the focus wasn't solely on the competitors; column inches were also devoted to the Simplified Spelling Society and American Literacy Council picket outside the competition.

The LA Times, San Francisco Times and The Guardian (UK) covered the event.

Allan Campbell was feted in his home country of New Zealand too, on line at 'Stuff'.

In the UK, local based radio stations in Birmingham and the Solent covered Masha Bell's trip, Masha also appeared on BBC Radio Five Live.

Natasha Desborough: My Life in Media

2007-05-17T19:10:00.000Z

17 May 2007 20:09 Home > News > Media
Natasha Desborough: My Life in Media

Natasha Desborough, 32, is the voice of BBC 6 Music and presents the station's weekend breakfast show. She worked on local radio and football station Crystal Palace FM before joining Xfm in 2000. She joined the BBC three years ago and has also worked as a voiceover artist on Five's Real Sex and California Escorts. She lives in Croydon with her partner Jim and their baby son, Oscar.

So what inspired you to embark on a career in the media?I actually intended to build a career in film, but after a few horrible jobs as a runner I decided that I wasn't cut out for the industry. Chance led me to radio presenting. I made a production demo, which I sent to all the radio stations I could think of hoping for some production work, and a controller came back and offered me a stint on the breakfast show on Invicta FM in Kent. There was one snag - I had to start the next day, and I'd be presenting.

When you were 15 years old, which newspaper did your family get, and did you read it?My parents always got The Times but at 15 I was more interested in Smash Hits.

And what were your favourite TV and radio programmes?I religiously recorded the Radio 1 Chart Show every Sunday. My favourite TV programme of all time was and still is Moonlighting. Currently the only programmes I can't bear to miss are Desperate Housewives and Shameless.

Describe your job
I'm lucky to have such a varied job because every day is different. Little bits of TV, a voiceover here and there and a splash of writing, but my bread and butter is my weekend breakfast show on BBC 6 Music.

What media do you turn to first thing in the morning?GMTV's News Hour until 7am and then straight on with the radio while I'm getting breakfast ready.

Do you consult any media sources during the working day?I check all the papers online in the morning, but we avoid the grown-up papers. At the weekend we use all the red tops for the show - the Daily Mirror, The Sun, the News of the World and The People. I check Digital Spy, Reuters, Pop Bitch and Ananova for the gossip and BBC News.

What is the best thing about your job?
I love my job. I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Mick and Rowan who produce my show are such good fun and it's great that the time slot fits so perfectly around my son. I can be mummy during the week and retain a sense of independence at the weekend.

And the worst?
The schmoozing. I rarely attend work-related dos. The radio industry is incredibly incestuous and it can be a big help to socialise out of hours. But I'm quite shy at times and I find those situations terrifying so I do my best to avoid them. I've often wondered if it has held me back in my career. I think it probably has.

How do you feel you influence the media?I'm not so arrogant as to believe that I have much influence. I'm just a neurotic mum from Croydon who witters on and plays music. However, I do believe that 6 Music as a radio station has a massive influence on the music industry.

What's the proudest achievement of your working life?After an 18-month break from radio, my boyfriend Jim and I had a lot of financial worries and had lost all confidence in my abilities as a radio broadcaster. Then suddenly, in the same week that I discovered I was pregnant with my first child, Lesley Douglas and Ric Blaxill offered me the 6 Music weekend breakfast show. I was both grateful and petrified. My hormones were all over the place and my confidence was at an all-time low. Getting back in the driver's seat is something I'm still proud of.

And what's your most embarrassing moment?Oh crikey, there are too many to mention. But calling a Channel 4 executive "Dad" in a crucial meeting ranks pretty highly. (I was tired and premenstrual.)

At home, what do you tune in to?
Usually it's Terry Wogan for breakfast, Vanessa Feltz on BBC London 94.9 from nine then back to Radio 2 for Jeremy Vine. Then it's Nemone on BBC 6 Music, then Danny Baker on BBC London and then Radio 4 for the comedy. My favourite show of the past few years was Iain Lee's drivetime show on LBC.

Who in the media do you most admire and why?Jo Brand. I like the way she's conducted her career and maintained a normal, private family life. She's endured a lot of criticism for being outspoken and intelligent but the insults just seem to make her funnier and cleverer. Plus she supports Crystal Palace FC! And I've always admired Lesley Douglas because she has built a career in a male-dominated industry and she's now the most powerful person in radio.

The CV

1995: Works as a runner on films and pop promos before moving into radio production at Croydon FM

1997: Moves to Crystal Palace's station

1999: Becomes a presenter at Kent's Invicta FM and soon bags a spot on Xfm presenting her own show

2000: Presents Xfm's Breakfast Session with co-presenters including Iain Lee and Ian Camfield

2003: Presents the weekend show with Jimmy Carr

2004: Becomes the voice of 6 Music, recording all their links and announcements

2005: Gets her own show, Natasha's 6 Music Weekend Breakfast Show, and becomes the voice of The A-List music chart

Article placed by Vikki Rimmer/Press Contact

6 Music's Tash Goes for A Song with The Sunday Times

2007-05-13T05:45:00.000Z

From The Sunday Times May 13, 2007
Going for a song
Natasha Desborough on Till I Die by the Beach Boys

I was introduced to the Beach Boys’ 1971 album Surf’s Up by a boy I fancied at sixth-form college. At the time, I was heavily into the Stone Roses, and thought the Beach Boys were a bunch of Californian beach bums who had an unhealthy obsession with surfing and cars, and sang like girls.

Anyway, in an effort to impress the boy in question, I agreed to listen to the album. I took Surf’s Up home with me and discovered a fabulous record, with tracks including the magical title track, the drug-influenced Feel Flows and Bruce Johnston’s Disney Girls.

But the track that really touched me was Till I Die, a poignant, heartbreaking song written by Brian Wilson some years before, when he was in the middle of a breakdown. The song has incredible richly layered harmonies, yet the melody remains humble. Band member Mike Love thought it was too depressing to be a Beach Boys song, and wouldn’t let it be featured on any earlier album. What a ninny. I fell head over heels in love – with the track, that is – and “accidentally” never gave the record back. I ended up avoiding the boy in question rather than return his album.

I was lucky enough to see Wilson perform live a few years ago at the Festival Hall, and was moved to tears. He looked so delicate perched behind his keyboard. His voice was fragile, but still held the emotion of an inconsolable romantic. And it was clear to every person in the audience that this was a man who was still battling relentless inner demons. I could blame my emotional state on the three glasses of chardonnay I’d drunk before the concert. But although that might have contributed, the fact remains that as Wilson began to perform Till I Die, I started crying hysterically, and didn’t stop until the end of the show.

I spend my working life playing music on the radio and, although I have a deep passion for my job, there aren’t many other songs that can move me to tears. Certain pieces of music, such as the Fanfare to the film Rocky and children’s choirs singing Away in a Manger at Christmas, can make me blub, but nothing gets my lip quivering like Till I Die. It captures perfectly that feeling of being small and insignificant in relation to the universe, something everyone can relate to: “I’m a cork on the ocean/ Floating over the raging sea / How deep is the ocean? / How deep is the ocean?”

Knowing the state of Wilson’s mind when he wrote the song makes the lyrics seem even more haunting. But I think everyone has felt like that at some time in their life. And, although the lyrics show a man dwarfed by the vastness of the world and obsessed with death, the melody is surprisingly hopeful and uplifting. I don’t find it a depressing song, though it’s certainly thought-provoking.

Natasha Desborough is the presenter of BBC 6 Music’s Weekend Breakfast Show

Article placed in The Sunday Times by Vikki Rimmer/Press Contact

Not since the days of the Lullingstone silk farm!!!!

2007-05-07T16:42:00.000Z

Record Visitor Numbers flock to Lullingstone Castle - home of the famous 'World Garden'.Yesterday (Sunday 6th May 2007) record numbers of visitors piled through the gates of Lullingstone Castle to attend Tom Hart Dyke's first personal plant fair.

BBC Gardener Tom Hart Dyke declared 'we've not received numbers of visitors like this since the days of the silk farm in the 1950s! It's amazing!'

Steve Bradley from The Sun and perennial favourites
- Andy Garland and Trevor Claringbold of BBC Radio Kent broadcast their popular 'Gardening Show' live from the Castle from 8am-11am, chornicalling the setting up of the big event.

Chelsea Gold medal winners from across the South East were in attendance; Iris of Sissinghurst, The Old Walled Garden, Derek Lloyd Dean, Riverside Fuschias, McBean's Orchids and Rotherview Nursery were among the exhibitors on the day.

Iris of Sissinghurst dispatched a van back down the A21 back to Sissinghurst at 12 noon when half the stall was stripped bare by voracious plant hunters. More Iris's were needed. And quick!

The refreshments were besieged by the multitude of visitors and the sellers even sold their own lunch to the hungry punters.

An orderly queue, four deep, stretched all the way from the house down the driveway to the gatehouse as visitors waited to gain entrance to the famous Castle - a favourite of Henry VIII and Queen Anne.

Visitors were keen to meet the family who are well known to BBC2 viewers from both series; 'Save Lullingstone Castle' and 'Return To Lullingstone Castle'.

The publicity for the event was handled by Vikki Rimmer/ Press Contact. Publicity ranged across all media and included The Telegraph, all Kent media and Radio Kent. Garden's Monthly were the events sponsors.

Gun's N Roses fight it out with The Beatles and Julian Lennon on Tash's BBC6 Music Weekend Breakfast Show

2007-04-29T11:47:00.000Z

Leeds Primary School choir Triumph in BBC Music comp

By Swapping Liszt for Lennon

This weekend at the hallowed ‘Maida Vale’ studios in London Meanwood Church of England Primary School from Leeds triumphed in the BBC 6 Music Weekend Breakfast Show’s unusual competition to find the best choral version of a rock/pop song.

The 53 strong choir from Meanwood Church of England Primary School stole the final with their tearjerking performance of ‘Saltwater’ by Julian Lennon. Weekend Breakfast Show presenter Natasha Desborough said; ‘ Saltwater did well in my eyes! It was a brilliant performance. The kids were amazing’.

The famous studios in Maida Vale – scene of recordings by The Beatles, Stones and Kaiser Chiefs - was packed to the rafters with excitable school kids who’d been up since 2am in order to travel considerable distances from Halifax, Dorset and Leeds, to make it to the studios for the live breakfast performance and to raise the roof with their choral rock songs.

The idea for the competition was sparked by a choral version of the Kaiser Chiefs hit ‘I predict a riot’ given the full choir treatment by Warrington based choir - The Cheshire Chord Company. The song was given to the ladies choir by the mother of a Kaiser Chief’s roadie. Natasha Desborough – the presenter of BBC6 Music’s ‘Weekend Breakfast Show’ heard the spine tingling version and launched the competition to find the best kids choral version of a classic 6 Music Song.

This is Hardchoral – the UK wide competition has really caught the public’s attention and looks set to change the way choirmasters recruit in the future!

Natasha says; ‘The response to the UK wide competition was brilliant, we had entries from all over the country, and it looked like Kaiser Chiefs fans from Yorkshire voted in their droves, beating off stiff competition to blag two final places for TWO Yorkshire Schools. Cross Lane Primary School, from Elland, nr Halifax and Meanwood Church of England Primary School, competed with The Funky Little choir from Christchurch Dorset. And it was only fitting that the three choirs should get to perform and record their choral ‘rock song’ live at ‘Maida Vale’.

BBC6 Music listeners – known for their credible music tastes deluged the studio with their texts and emails in response to the competition which aired three unusual versions of 'let is Be' (Cross Lane), 'Saltwater' (Meanwood Primary) and 'Sweet Child of Mine (The Funky Little Choir). Natasha Desborough says; ‘the response was wonderful and I’m thoroughly surprised at how wussy the 6 Music listeners really are – our listeners do have a heart!’

The final was judged by Ross Millard from the Indie band ‘The Futureheads’, Shaun Keaveny (seasoned XFM and BBC6 Music DJ) and by Denise Lines, Musical Director of the Cheshire Chord Company – the originators of the ‘hardchoral’ genre. Natasha says; ‘I nearly cried three times, all three choirs deserved to win and I’m glad it wasn’t me who had to make the final decision. In the end the judges unanimously decided that the passion shown by the Meanwood Choir was worthy of the trophy and the prize – something that tons of bands would love to have - two weeks airplay on BBC6 Music.’

IMAGES AVAILABLE FROM vikki@presscontact.co.uk 01322 866293 / 07886 673412

Notes to editors:

1. These links might be of interest – ‘why boys do not join choirs’ : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6434409.stm

£10 million package to boost singing in schools http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6264899.stm - £10

Some example cuttings from the Return To Lullingstone Castle campaign

2007-04-22T08:27:00.000Z
The Following cuttings aren't the definitive portfolio, I'm still waiting on a couple of cuttings to come through - including the Evening Standard's 'pick of the day' featuring Tom, butt naked but for his loin cloth on the top of Ayers Rock!

BBC6 Music Hardchoral: I predict a riot..ous final?

2007-04-20T11:40:00.000Z
Voting is underway for the BBC6 Music Weekend Breakfast Show competition: 'This is hardchoral'; the search to find a kids choral version of a BBC6 Music song.

Ten schools, from across the UK, are fighting out to make it down to the final three.

The competition has caught the imagination of the press, with regional papers, radio stations and TV news getting behind 'their' local school.

The idea for the competition was sparked by the Cheshire Chord Company's choral version of the Kaiser Chief's hit 'I Predict a Riot'. Natasha Desborough - 'Tash' - presenter of the Weekend Breakfast Show, decided to take the idea and invent a new music genre : 'hardchoral'.
BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC Lancashire, BBC East Midlands Today and Look East have all featured their local schools entires, which include an entertaining 'Sweet Child of Mine' gone choral, 'Crazy' Gnarls Barkley on song and (Don't Fear)The Reaper sung sweeter than the Blue Oyster Cult could ever have imagined!

The final three will be announced on Saturday 21st April. The live final will be held in the BBC6 Music studios on Saturday 28th April in front of judges, including Shaun Keaveny and Ross from The Futureheads.
The Press and Publicity has been fun to do - lots of enquiries from across the country from small community magazines to the local BBC TV stations. Tash's idea has really struck a chord.
Press and Publicity managed by Press Contact: Vikki Rimmer www.presscontact.co.uk

'Let's Get Phonetic' Simplified Spelling Society most emailed news April 18th 2007

2007-04-19T16:23:00.000Z

The Reuters piece by Paul Majendie on The Simplified Spelling Society was pick of the day for 'Oddly Enough' and editors choice on Reuters. It also became pick of the day at Yahoo News, Tiscali News and MSN News, it then went on to become Yahoo! News: Most Emailed - Odd News of the day.

The story winged its way around the globe and led to radio appearances on BBC5 Live, Spin1038, Meridian TV and Australian ABC.

Papers across the globe picked up the story including: Cape Times, The Australian and The Daily Mirror.

The Simplified Spelling Society celebrate their 99th birthday AGM on SAturday 21st April at Birkbeck College, London.

Press & Publicity for the society managed and obtained by Vikki Rimmer and Press Contact www.presscontact.co.uk

Spelling Society's 99th AGM PR by Vikki Rimmer Press Contact

2007-04-17T16:37:00.000Z

Simplified Spelling Society: "Let's get phonetic"
By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - Enough is enuf.

The Simplified Spelling Society (SSS) is celebrating its 99th birthday by launching a new campaign to make it easier to read and write English.

It may be the world's most universal language but linguistic experts say it has failed to adapt for the last 500 years and now half the globe's English speakers have difficulty spelling.

With texts and e-mails revolutionising the way we communicate, SSS secretary John Gledhill says the time is ripe for phonetic reform and spelling simplification.

"Texts cut away the complications and take away the stigma of not being able to use an obsolete spelling," Gledhill told Reuters in an interview.
The SSS message is simple: "You can change the spelling without spoiling the language. People are scared of change and don't realise it is normal in language."

European children learn to read and write far quicker than the British, he said. Italians take just two years while the British can struggle for up to 12 years.

He said 40 million American adults are functionally illiterate -- for everyday purposes, they are not able to read and write.

Gledhill, who has a PhD in the history of Dutch consonantal spelling from 1100-1970, said the Netherlands updated spelling to keep pace with pronunciation.
"English is about the only language, apart from French, on the world stage that hasn't updated its spelling for 500 years. That is why it is in rather a mess," he said.

PHONETICS KEY
Gledhill sees phonetics as the key to improving literacy and spelling.
He complained that almost 4,000 English spellings make no sense. If head, said and friend were simplified down to 'hed' and 'sed' and 'frend' then kids would learn quicker.

But teachers begged to differ.
"Language has to be fit for purpose. The discipline of spelling is important. Children should learn to judge when formal and informal language is required," said John Dunford of the Association of School and College Leaders.

"Text message spelling may be appropriate for text messages. It certainly isn't appropriate for filling out an application form. Children should learn how to punctuate and spell properly."
The Simplified Spelling Society boasted 35,000 members in its 20th Century heyday. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was one of its most prominent supporters.

In Britain, where illiteracy is estimated to cost the economy 10 billion pounds a year, parliamentarians sought to tackle the problem by legislation. But enthusiasm waned.
"We are not sure why there was such a huge interest after the First World War. Maybe people thought it was a brand new world after the war to end all wars," Gledhill said.
Membership worldwide has now shrunk to 500 for the London-based society but Gledhill insists change is more urgent than ever.

"Spanish is easier to read and write and could challenge the dominance of English. The English language itself is in very good health. We just want it to be written down in a way that is readable and writeable."

(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=592152007
Article placed by Vikki Rimmer press Contact working on behalf of the Simplified Spelling Society Est 1908

Tom Hart Dyke's Upside Down Tree - The Independent Monday 9th April

2007-04-10T13:59:00.000Z
A great picture of Will Jordan's amazing steel 'Baobab' or 'upside down tree', set within the grounds of Tom Hart Dyke's 'World Garden', makes it into The Independent. Tom and Will are chuffed

BBC6 Music's Tash invents new music genre - 'Hardchoral'

2007-04-09T14:21:00.000Z

(FAST PITCH PRESS) Date Released: 04/10/2007
Natasha Desborough and her team at BBC6 Music' Weekend breakfast Show will have their hands full on Saturday 28th April with a studio full of kids vying for the big prize in the culmination of ‘This is Hardchoral’, the Weekend Breakfast Shows search to find the best kid’s choral version of a 6Music song.

The competition has been running for the past six weeks and was initially inspired by a choral version of the ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ hit ‘I Predict a Riot’ given a choral twist by Warrington based choir; ‘The Cheshire Chord Company’.

Tash and her team have spent the last six weeks asking Music teachers ;'Are you the Master of an alternative choir?' and parent; ' Are your kids in the coolest school choir around? Do they prefer singing Maximo Park to Mozart?'

Tash says; ‘We wanted parents to encourage their kids, we wanted music teachers to jump on board – it’s a great way of making music accessible to kids who are probably more interested in singing Maximo Park than Mozart. We wanted tracks from the current crop of bands we’re playing on the show ; The Kaisers, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, The Arcade Fire, or ifrom classic tracks like;, Hendrix, Stones, Led Zep, Radiohead or Oasis’.

The competition has received some really diverse entries from across the Country, sent in by kids keen to show their rock choral pedigree. Entries include a fantastic choral version of Gnarls Barklay’s ‘Crazy’, a tear-jerking junior school version of Julian Lennon’s ‘Saltwater’, a spookily good (Don’t fear)The Reaper’ Blue Oyster Cult and a slew of Beatles numbers.

Entries will be posted on the 6Music website over the weekend of 15th April. Listeners then vote for their favourites and the top three choirs will be singing live in the studio for a panel of ‘esteemed’ judges.

Every weekend ‘Tash’ wakes her listeners with a mixed grill of a breakfast, piling the plate high with comedy, great music and features including ‘Emo corner’, ‘Mortasha Queen of Darkness’ a debate over rock star hair do’s: ‘Mullet Over’ and fantastic music.

Presenter/ Natasha Desborough, Producer/ Mick Meadows, Somethin’Else BBC 6 Music

Going For A Song - Tom Hart Dyke : The Sunday Times

2007-04-08T09:42:00.000Z

From The Sunday Times April 8, 2007

Going for a song
Interview by Vikki Rimmer

Tom Hart Dyke on Always Look On The Bright Side of Life/Monty Python

It’s always been about the plants for me. Plants and adventure. It’s in the blood. My two great-uncles — Boyd and Claude — were the first explorers to map the Nile region in Chad. Both, unfortunately, lost their lives in search of adventure, and lie buried in Chad. I was luckier than Uncle Boyd and Uncle Claude. I made it out of my “adventure” in one piece.

In 2000, I was kidnapped on a plant-hunting expedition that went spectacularly wrong. I was held hostage with my travelling companion, Paul Winder, in a remote region of South America called the Darien Gap. It is a place of legend, the only break in the Pan-American Highway, which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America. It is impregnable — a strip of swamp and jungle that was our home for nine long months.

Our captors were crazy. We never really worked out who they were, and they were extremely suspicious of us — at one point, they thought we were the CIA. We tried everything we could to persuade them that we were just Tom, a plant-hunter, and Paul, a bad skier and adventurer. In an attempt to sound like average Joes, we had promised to dance and sing for them. Not long into our ordeal, we were persuaded that we could put it off no longer. Paul suggested we sing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

As we limbered up, Paul even toyed with the idea of shouting a rock star-style “Hello, Colombia!”, except we were never really sure of our location in the jungle. Instead, I said in Spanish, “This is the national anthem of Great Britain.” Then I turned to Paul in a slight panic and said, “I don’t know the verses.” Paul told me not to worry. He would sing them. He started in a wavery baritone and I joined in when we got to “Always look on the bright side of life / De-doo-de-doo-de-doo-de-doo”.

We were rubbish at whistling, so we sang the “doo-de-doos” while kicking our legs in the air and flinging our arms upwards at the same time. I began to improvise and bring my knees up to meet my chin. “If life seems jolly rotten,” Paul sang, I kicked, “there’s something you’ve forgotten” — knees up — “and that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing.” Paul screamed at the guerrillas to join in. Everyone was laughing; tears of laughter were rolling down the cheeks of a young female guerrilla. That was until I brought my foot down hard and accidentally crushed her little perrico bird, which had been perched behind me. There were 10 seconds of silence, then the whole camp exploded into laughter. Whenever I hear the song, I’m instantly transported back to what was the strangest period of my life.>

Tom Hart Dyke’s new book, An Englishman’s Home: Adventures of an Eccentric Gardener, is published by Bantam (£18.99, hardback); he can be seen in the BBC2 documentary series Return to Lullingstone Castle on Mondays at 8.30pm
Interview by Vikki Rimmer

Baby Metallica: Swedes Name and Shame

2007-04-05T11:27:00.000Z

Along with your birth weight, your name is the first piece of information your loving parents impart, on your behalf, to the world. Usually, this piece of precious news is delivered just to your family and their close friends, however, new parents Michael and Karolina Tomaro, have seen their special news bounce around the world. The couple from Sweden, recently hit the headlines worldwide with their court room battle centering on their choice of a name for their daughter Metallica. The state – in the form of Sweden’s National Tax Authority – say that ‘Metallica’ is ‘inappropriate’.

Little Metallica’s parents say that they checked in with the state first, and there was already precedent for the name. Metallica was duly baptized, but then tax officials stepped in. Under Swedish law, both the first name and surname of the child need to win approval from the authorities before being used. The couple declared to reporters; ‘we’re being driven to the frayed ends of sanity’ by the ordeal. (Apparently the band are being supportive - Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said he would consider calling his next child 'Budgie' by way of protest.)

This is not the first time the Swedish court has had to settle an argument over the naming of the country’s children - the names Ikea and Veranda have also been rejected in the past by the Swedish authority. Many liberals may see the naming of your child as an essential human right. But could it be a human wrong?……….

Back in the day, you could rely on your Grandparents to be the ones to provide you with a name that made you snigger. My Grandfather’s moniker ‘Edgar Horace Rimmer’ gave my brother and I hours of entertainment – and boy did we need it, for with a name like ‘Rimmer’ we knew all about playground ridicule. However, the recent proliferation of ‘Britney’s, ‘Mercedes’ and even a ‘Bently Coupe’ on the national register of names, has taken the sublime to the truly ridiculous, and has led to my quest to find out ‘what’s in a name?’ And why don’t the authorities care? Are we literally branding our children – it’s a hot topic that needs consideration for it would seem that as a nation we have no shame when it comes to names.

A quick trawl through the top ten names for boys and girls reveals little change in respectability over recent years – ‘Jack’ has occupied the top spot for the last 16, but, if you dig deeper – oh my!

My research material has centered on the shiny ‘get a life’ and ‘chat to me and play with my anagrams’ periodicals that proliferate and breed at a rate similar to their average reader. But my bible of choice, is the indispensable ‘Take a Break’. The letters page is pure gold dust, and once, (oh glorious memory) the magazine did a feature on readers names, with a chorus line of dancing Pepsi’s, Candi’s and Crimson’s while the boys were heroically geographical: ‘Indiana’, Leeds and Derby (I kid you not). The pages of this fabled issue are now as thin as rice paper due to over handling.

But what’s in a name? well, your name means everything – it’s who you are, it’s your own personal brand. ‘Metallica’ has her own label for a start! ‘Pepsi’s have a head start on merchandising with their own personal logo – with trade restrictions of course.

Will Bently Coupe and Pepsi be leaders in their fields? And will ‘Metallica’ suffer by association with a 90s rock band obsessed with death metal and ‘sandmen’.

Diana’s and Sarah’s are ‘passive and idealistic’

Is it possible that our characters are shaped by our given names? An extensive trawl of the internet yielded a scientific periodical of sorts http://www.kabalarians.com. ‘Kabalarian’s believe that your name is a mathematical equation – something that will reveal your personality, and will shape who you are.’ Wait a minute, I hear you say, ‘Kabalarians?’ aren’t they that lot that encourages you to drink their branded water costing £5 a bottle, then force you into attending Madonna gigs?

Well, maybe, but no one can deny that their most famous follower has a name that inspires brand loyalty, and it would take a brave man or woman to ridicule ‘Madge’.

The Kabalarian Philosphy teaches us that ‘The quality of one's mind—thoughts, desires, opinions, likes, dislikes, reactions—can be measured by the linking of the most personal form of language, one's name, to mathematics.’
Bingo! (please god that ‘brand’ name ONLY be considered in respect of four legged creatures!)

Maths AND science! I have the proof needed to back up the ‘name and shame’ thesis. And if further proof were needed, the Kabalarians take their brand ideas to pseudo scientific heights; ‘When language is used to attach a name to someone, certain specific forces of conscious intelligence are combined. They constitute the nucleus of mind, from which all thoughts and experiences flow. By representing the conscious forces combined in your name as a mathematical formula, ones' specific mental characteristics, strengths and weaknesses can be measured.’.

There’s even a handy name calculator at www.kabalarians.com And ‘Metallica’ was listed…..

• Although the name Metallica creates an interest in the deeper aspects of life, we emphasize that it limits your versatility and scope, tuning you to technical details.

• You have, also, a flair for creative expression with your hands.

• You take life seriously and can be easily and deeply hurt and go into moods which can be quite extreme at times, causing much turmoil and unhappiness

And despite this sounding every bit as scientific as a horoscope, I was intrigued to learn that Kabalarians believe ; ‘With an understanding of the basic principles of language and mathematics, the characteristics of any name can be calculated to reveal the mind of that person.’ There’s even some fairly accurate postulations: Barbara’s and Glenn’s are traditionally ‘reflective’ characters , while Diana’s and Sarah’s are ‘passive and idealistic’. But what of ‘Metallica’s state of mind, and how will it affect her destiny?
• This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the heart, lungs, bronchial area, and elimination system
So, it would appear that the kabalarians and the Swedes are on the same page of the name book in their belief in the idea that the name you assign your child has real implications, not just in terms of associated character traits but also in the way your character is perceived by those around you. Should parents have the freedom to call their child whatever takes their fancy?

In the making of this article: no names have been changed to protect the innocents
by Vikki Rimmer

Rick Shaw - Kerrang!

2007-04-04T13:17:00.000Z

Digital Dial: Rick Shaw
It’s easy to get carried away by a Rick Shaw vehicle. No really , this rock radio demi-god knows how to put together a package that literally accelerates the mid morning. Rick’s been presenting his Sony award winning show on Kerrang! (exclamation compulsory) since the rock music station launched back in June 2004.

Despite its famous brand name, the station stands separate from the magazine beloved of teenage rockers and Rick Shaw’s audience is made up of mid-morning listeners keen for either a distraction from work or home, or those looking for some Living Colour on a drab work day.

Rick’s a radio man with a pedigree. He’s got Sony awards and everything! But more than that he has ‘the nouse’. He knows what works between 9-12. He’s the master at making a ‘brunch time’ snack – sandwiching comedy in between the music – the bread and butter of the mid-morning slot. It's an unwritten rule in RADIO that music must take precedent over speech at this time of the day. The Breakfast show is speach heavy with 70% of the airspace taken up with the spoken word. And while other stations fiddle with the music format and offer 'listeners choice' in various formats, Rick sticks to his guns and interacts with his audience on a level beyond asking for their top tunes.

Rick told me: 'Kerrang!is different in that we don't take ourselves too seriously, we are able to poke fun at ourselves and often we do which I think endears us to the listener even more and galvanises our relationship'.
by Vikki Rimmer

News Release Monday 19th march 2007

2007-04-04T13:04:00.000Z

The 6Music Weekend Breakfast Show are hoping to do for this decade’s music what Hans Fenger did in the 1970s with The Langley Schools Music Project from British Columbia, who performed their favourite 60s and 70s hits in choral style. The resulting album ‘Innocence And Despair’ by the Langley Schools Music Project is a cult classic.

Monday 19th March 2007
News release: No Embargo

THIS IS HARDCHORAL
Are you the Master of an alternative choir? Are your kids in the coolest school choir around? Do they prefer singing Maximo Park to Mozart? Is your child more ‘punk’ than ‘choirboy’?

BBC6 Music’s Weekend Breakfast Show are scouring the UK, looking for the best choral version, by a kids choir, of a 6 music song. Natasha Desborough, presenter of the Weekend Breakfast show, says; ‘ it can be from the current crop of bands we’re playing on the show ; The Kaisers, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, The Arcade Fire, or it could be a classic, Hendrix track, or something from the Stones, Led Zep, Radiohead or Oasis’.

Alternative choirmaster, Natasha says; ‘We want parents to encourage their kids, we want music teachers to jump on board – it’s a great way of making music accessible to kids who are probably more interested in singing Maximo Park than Mozart.’ The competition is open to Kids across the UK, Natasha says; ‘ if you’re at school and you want to have a crack at this - get a load of mates together and get rehearsing.’

The idea for the competition was sparked by a spine tingling choral version of The Kaiser Chief’s ‘I predict a riot’, which has been given a new treatment by a Warrington choir: ‘The Cheshire Chord Company’. The song was taken to the choir meet by the mother of one of the Kaiser Chief’s roadies.
Entries so far include a spookily good rendition of ‘(Don’t fear) The Reaper’ (The Blue Oyster Cult) sung by a Cambridge junior school.

Entries via CD or MP3 will be accepted up until the closing date of Friday 13th April. For details on how to enter visit Natasha’s page on the 6 music website. www.bbc.co.uk/6music

All of the entries will go on the 6 music website, then over the weekend of the 15th April the 6 music listeners will vote for their favourite, the three with the most votes will come in the following weekend (21st) and sing live in front of a panel of judges with the winners getting what thousands of bands in the UK would love to have: two weeks of airplay on BBC 6 music.

Rock Radio feature for Radio Times

2007-04-04T13:02:00.000Z
Look out boys, the girls are coming.
By Vikki Rimmer
In the world of Rock Radio it used to be ‘a man’s man’s world’, and although it’s taken nearly forty years it looks like the sisters are really starting to do it for themselves on the big music stations. Until fairly recently female presenters were sidelined, awarded the late shift, travel or weather, that is until a feisty bunch, led by Jo Whiley and including Lauren Laverne at XFM, Natasha Desborough at 6 Music, Emma Scott and Rachel New at Kerrang! grabbed the mic and the wrestled the spotlight away from the boys. Rachel New gives Ugly Phil a run for his money in the Kerrang! breakfast studio, and her rock credentials are strong – she recently led a record breaking attempt for ‘most TV’s thrown out of a window’, live on air. Kerrang!’s the kind of station that requires an exclamation mark – it’s loud, it’s often heavy, but contrary to popular opinion, Rock Radio’s no longer the preserve of the boys, with many a male listener enlightened during drivetime by Emma Scott’s lively take on the day’s issues. In the 60s and 70s Bra burning wasn’t a feature of music radio, where the boys definitely had it covered, leaving the girls with just enough studio space at the mic to giggle as the presenters patted the butt of their jokes. And with the exception of Annie Nightingale, over the years, female music DJ’s have sounded dangerously like grateful groupies, cooing at the rock gods invited in to the studio. Thankfully this new bunch of girls are keen on flashing their music credibility, and with the likes of Lauren Laverne at XFM displaying wit and an encyclopaedic knowledge of rock music, girls are no longer between Rock and a hard place, they’re ‘taking the mic’ and leading from the front.

Radio Times digital Choice - February 2006

2007-04-04T12:58:00.000Z
The Shaun Keaveny Show: 10.00pm – 01.00am BBC 6 Music (Mon-Thurs)Be prepared to make friends with new 6 Music host Shaun Keaveny who began touting his ‘Dream Ticket’ to gig fans six weeks ago, encouraging them to climb aboard this most eclectic of radio vehicles to ride shotgun with him as he replays sessions cherry-picked from the BBC archives. Monday night revisits the Kaiser Chief’s Nottingham gig – September 2004 - while Wednesday night’s rare Rolling Stones session from August 1965 celebrates what would have been Brian Jones’ 65th birthday. Live music comes courtesy of The Earlies this Wednesday and across the UK listeners will text in their live gig reviews. Keaveny’s made the show his own with quirky features including: ‘Roadies' Lives’ and ‘Festival Focus’ where this week you can revisit Reading 1992 minus your muddy wellies. Warning: if you make friends with ‘Keavo’ he’ll keep you up into the early hours flexing your texting thumb.
By Vikki Rimmer for Radio Times

Great Coverage of the new BBC2 series

2007-04-04T10:39:00.000Z

Press and Publicity for KEO Films 'Return to Lullingstone Castle' BBC2 was a really great job - an excellent challenge that provided good results for both Tom, Keo and for me too. It was brilliant to see my pictures (my press release) included in so many diverse publications and on line.

The Daily Telegraph did a lovely piece on Tom Hart Dyke for page 3 on Monday 19th March - all pictures taken by Vikki Rimmer for Press Contact.

The big TV feature was The Weekend Daily Mail's full page on Tom Hart Dyke and his World Garden story and kidnap. The images used were taken by Vikki Rimmer for Press Contact

TV Picks of The Day were achieThe Daily Mirror,
The Sunday Telegraph, The Saturday Telegraph magazine, The Daily Telegraph (Monday), The Times Monday, The Times 'Knowledge', The Times' Bricks & Mortar', The Evening Stanrdard, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, THe Observer, The Guardian.

Pick of The Day in 'The Radio Times' and a full page feature with photographs taken by Vikki Rimmer for Press Contact

Television:
Through The Keyhole
to coincide with episode 3 of RTLC

BBC South Today :
Tuesday 12th – breakfast, lunch, dinner
Monday 19th March

Online:
Reuters
BBC online piece on Tom and the programme,
Feature on ‘The Reckless Gardener’ website
Gardeners World Website
Lullingstone website
Wikipedia
Tiscali Travel
Cosmic Gardening
Essex Online
Answers.com (brother to Wikipedia)
Burnham on Sea gardening club (rock and roll!)
Tescos.com books

Tom's story pings around the World

2007-04-04T10:34:00.000Z

After a visit from Reuters, to coincide with the 2nd week of transmission of BBC2's Return to Lullingstone Castle, Tom’s story flew around the globe and was included in ‘The Scotsman’ as well as dozens of online newspapers and periodicals.
The story was placed in India, New Zealand, The Gulf, South Africa and Europe.

The story of Tom Hart Dyke's Upside Down Tree

2005-10-03T14:42:00.000Z

Tom Hart Dyke's World Garden (as featured on BBC2's Return to Lullingstone Castle) opened yesterday with an unusual ‘happening’ – the unveiling of ‘The Upside Down Tree’ on April Fools Day. The tree, known as ‘The Baobab’, was made by Sevenoaks artist Will Jordan from 51 kilometres of hand twisted steel wire.

The story of the tree, and how it came to be placed in the Central African region of The World Garden, is a fitting April Fool.

It all began last summer when Tom was left an answer phone message offering, what sounded to him like, ‘a sculpture made out of chicken mess’. Never one to refuse an unusual offer, Tom decided to go and investigate the potential ‘bird poo’offering. However, after speaking to the man behind the message - local artist Will Jordan - it soon became clear that Tom’s answer phone was anything but (!), and in actual fact he was being offered an art piece made out of chicken ‘mesh’, not ‘mess’!

With the small matter of the chicken mess cleared up, a deal was struck — Will would create an ‘upside down tree’ or ‘Baobab’ to go in the centre of Africa in the World Garden (WG).

Tom and Will set about making plans for a sculpture in the shape of the African Baobab tree – a tree that Tom had previously tried to grow without success. Tom says ; ‘– I tried to grow some from seed, but they barely germinated. And if we had one here in the WG then frost would kill it. It’s a brilliant tree - so symbolic of the African continent – and the sculpture seemed the perfect solution’.

Tom and Will’s plans raised a few eyebrows last summer when Will visited the garden and demonstrated ‘the prototype tree’. Will says; ‘I took with me a couple of bits of wire and a pole which we strapped together with tape and held aloft. We needed to get a rough idea of what would be a good size for the garden. We got some funny looks from people visiting the garden. Tom and I told them; ‘it’s going to be a tree!’.

The amazing tree, made entirely from stainless steel, has been created with 51 kilometres of wire. Will used a large stainless steel tube to mount the 8 foot tree, setting it in place in Central Africa in the World-map shaped garden.

Will has utilized wires of differing thickness (up to 5mm), running the wires vertically, up and down the tree structure , mimicking the vertical fibres which run up and down in a ‘real’ tree. Will says; ‘I liked the idea of running wire vertically, it creates tension, and mechanical strength – just like in a real tree. If you wrapped the tree ‘just round and round’ it would flop to one side and have no strength. Once I’d completed the initial vertical fibres stage I started attaching branches and roots from very thick structural wire for support and strength. ‘

Will says; ‘I’m hoping that the visitors from last summer will return and be impressed with the structure which now looks just like a Baobab tree’.
Tom is chuffed to bits with the new African addition. He says; ‘ ‘it’s a brilliant addition to the garden, people are mistaking it for the real thing from long range – people asking whether I’ve spray painted a tree – it’s great that Will’s done such a realistic job. It stands out and when the sun’s on it glistens tremendously .’

www.lullingstonecastle.co.uk
www.williamjordansculpture.com