Passionate Blog

Blog update

PLEASE bear with us as we introduce changes to this blog. Some content will have disappeared from the sidebars so they look pretty blank. The site is having a face-lift so (non-surgical) so please check back soon to see what we are up to!

Colin Lee looks to the skies for 30th birthday celebrations

COVERAGE for Midlands opticians Colin Lee is set to go up and up with the company marking its 30th anniversary.
Thirty balloons will be released to commemorate the birthday at each of the branches at Great Barr and Ward End in Birmingham as well as at Lichfield, Burntwood, Tamworth, Rugeley and Aldridge.

Flood hit family butcher finds taste of success online

IT'S great to see our story about Clare Barry's online success gaining so much media coverage.

In the days since we contacted journalists, it has been featured in specialist food and farming publications, as well as Computer Weekly, the BBC online and on the radio, plus all the local papers - among others. Regional and business magazines have also reported or are set to report on the site.

Here's the story...

A long-established family butcher has ‘reinvented’ the company to become a booming national online retailer – after a ‘dreadful year’ of being hit by floods, the credit crunch and competition from supermarket giants.

Clare Lusted, from www.clarebarry.co.uk says she and her father Barry realised they needed to take ‘drastic action’ when their shop became deserted last summer – as the surrounding streets in Evesham, were submerged under six feet of water.

David Hemery's Olympic gold thinking to help sports coaches

SPORTS trainers in the region could benefit from a technique used by Olympic gold medallist David Hemery and a host of other Olympic athletes in a course run by a Lichfield coach.

Climbers' massive effort hits the heights for Compton

WOW. What would you do to raise cash for a worthwhile cause?

A 33-strong group of intrepid fundraisers went the extra mile when they trekked across Offa’s Dyke and the Black Mountains in Wales to raise more than £17,000 for Compton Hospice.

A big congratulations to everyone involved - what a fantastic achievement. A team from Garratts Chartered Accountants, who conquered the summit, is pictured.

At the highest point on the trail the hikers reached 2,150 ft above sea level, at the summit of Pen Allt-mawr, on the three-day trip, which involved two nights camping.

New Staffordshire college course helps students go wild

STUDENTS at a Staffordshire college can go really wild – thanks to an innovative new course launched this autumn.

Rodbaston College is offering a new degree course designed to provide students with the skills to succeed in the highly competitive field of wild animal management in zoos and safari parks.

The three-year BSc (Hons) in Zoo Animal Management, which starts next month (September 2008) will give its graduates a springboard to a career in zoos and safari parks around the world.

The course, one of only a few of its type available in the UK, will give students an understanding of the behaviour, welfare, nutrition and health of specific animal species as well as a knowledge of the licensing frameworks and social role of zoos and safari parks.

Novotel's blindfold challenge set to raise awareness and funds

A Wolverhampton charity is organising a two-day sponsored blindfold to raise funds and awareness – which it says will also help counter recent coverage of the disability on Big Brother.

Beacon Centre for the Blind is preparing plans for the innovative and ambitious event – to be held in January at the city’s Novotel - where it wants to give local employers the chance to experience life without sight for 24 hours.

It comes after the success of a sponsored ‘blind drive’ event at RAF Cosford which raised £3,500 earlier this month. Sighted and visually impaired drivers donned blindfolds to boost Beacon’s £3 million Second Site Appeal, to help fund a £18 million project for a new day centre and specialist accommodation.

Capital Appeal Officer Barry Butt said the event would be a well-coordinated and serious exercise in helping sighted people understand what it’s like to not see for 24 hours and to get to grips with the challenges presented. Barry has been blind from birth.

During the event, those taking part will be divided into couples with one wearing a blindfold and the other guiding them.

The itinerary will include guests staying overnight at the Novotel and facing a number of challenges including venturing out into Wolverhampton.

Final details of those challenges, plus news of guest speakers are still to be decided. But Barry said it was imperative that this was a serious event designed to promote better understanding of the issues faced by blind people.

Award-winning addition to Passionate team

THE warmest of welcomes to Neil Aitchison - who has the dubious honour of becoming the first man to be a full-time employee of Passionate Media.

Neil is now our new media director – and that’s because he brings with him expertise in blogging and podcasting, thanks to his most recent position as online editor at Warwick University.

He helped to produce Warwick’s innovative video programme, Warwick iCast, which featured weekly films on international research at the university.

We’re really excited about the opportunities this brings for our clients and our business. Please watch this space for news of how we are capitalising on Neil’s wealth of knowledge.

Neil is also a former communications manager at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and editor of the Forensic Science Service’s magazine, Clued-Up – a position that saw him scoop a Communicators in Business Award of Excellence in 2004 and on the shortlist for the Institute of Public Relations PRide awards 2005.

As a journalist, Neil has worked at BBC Midlands Today converting the TV news programme to online video content. He has also been a broadcast journalist with BBC West Midlands Online and Radio WM and as a copytaster and reporter at the Birmingham Post.

Neil’s early years in reporting were spent as editor of the Uttoxeter Advertiser, before moving on to cover health for the Worcester Evening News (in between romancing the news editor – more of that later) and the Leicester Mercury.

Neil has also freelanced for several BBC local radio stations and is a former communications officer at the University of Kent at Canterbury, where he'd completed a degree in politics and government.

These days he’s an energetic dad to nine-year-old twins, Emily and Melissa. Their not so energetic mum is Linda Jones, Passionate Media managing director and aforementioned news editor at Worcester.