"Our young will die early"

Posted by Ellee on Mar 31, 2009 in updates | 5 comments Is there such a thing as a wonder drug? I was interested to read about Polypill, a cheap five-in-one pill which it is claimed can protect against heart attacks and stroke. It seems to be targeted at the over 55s. But how many of our young people today will reach that age? During a recent visit to my doctor for a routine blood test, I was also screened for diabetes. I was told by the practice...
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The Obama social media dream, and how it happened

Posted by Ellee on Mar 30, 2009 in Social Media, video | 4 comments There is still an overwhelming fascination about Barack Obama’s unprecedented use of the social media which took him straight to The White House. He used it to raise a staggering $668 million and on the day of the election, there were 1.2 billion blog posts written about him. Crucially, Obama used YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blogs to listen to people and respond. He even set up a special...
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The embarrassment of Jacqui Smith

Posted by Ellee on Mar 29, 2009 in News | 12 comments I imagine it’s the spare room tonight for the shamed husband of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who was forced into making a humiliating apology for heaping huge embarrassment on his wife over a bungled expenses claim which included two porno films he watched while she was out. She ‘mistakenly’ submitted an £67 MPs expenses claim which included five pay-per-view films, including...
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Robert Sturdy urges G20 leaders to promote free trade

Posted by Ellee on Mar 29, 2009 in PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP, video | 2 comments My MEP Robert Sturdy is a key international trade spokesman and in this video he explains why we need to increase free trade across borders globally and do away with protectionism to help recover from the recession. Is that what G20 world leaders will have in mind when they meet this...
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How can charities survive?

Posted by Ellee on Mar 25, 2009 in PR, video | 7 comments This video provides advice from the experts on how charities can use communications to promote their organisations during the economic downturn. It features hot tips from Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow; Mark Webster, Director of Communications with the Charities Aid Foundation; Ted Hart, founder of International ePhilapnthorpy Foundation; and David Senior, Director of Development with ...
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How to pitch a story to a national magazine

Posted by Ellee on Mar 24, 2009 in PR, video | 9 comments I heard Victoria Woodhall, deputy features editor for You magazine, Mail on Sunday, give this helpful advice at a charity conference, and asked her to share it via my video. Although it is aimed at the charity sector and describes how they can successfully achieve positive media coverage in a glossy mag, such as You, it is also great advice for the communications industry in general. I hope you...
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The “shame” of having cancer

Posted by Ellee on Mar 24, 2009 in PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP, video | 5 comments The “shame” and “embarrassment” some people feel about admitting to having cancer has been described in this video by Jola Gore-Booth, founder of europacolon. “There’s taboo of cancer, there’s still embarrassment. People do not want to admit that they have cancer in Eastern European countries, you are ashamed of it. It means that God thinks you a bad...
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“Deal with Brown, prepare for Cameron”

Posted by Ellee on Mar 23, 2009 in Headway, PR, video | 8 comments How should charities communicate and survive the economic downturn? Peter Bingle, chairman of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs had some sound advice – “deal with Brown, prepare for Cameron.” It was uncomfortably political for some of the audience at the conference where Peter spoke, but made sound sense to me. I was attending as chair of trustees for Headway Cambridgeshire, and...
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Voting for the FT Climate Change Challenge

Posted by Ellee on Mar 23, 2009 in Environment | 1 comment It’s the kind of zany stuff you might have seen featured on BBC’s Tomorrow’s World. I am totally blown away by the innovativeness of these five far-reaching ideas which have been shortlisted in the Financial Times Climate Change Challenge which I wrote about last November. You are invited to vote for your winning choice at the FT link here, and the $75,000 prize money will be...
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My beautiful mother

Posted by Ellee on Mar 22, 2009 in Personal | 14 comments They broke the mould when they made my mother Loula. Like many of her generation, she has had to overcome many hardships. I  remember her telling me how she used to walk miles as a child for a crust of bread to survive the ravages of war. She had no fun-filled teenage life, living it through a civil war in Greece when more Greeks killed Greeks than Germans in WW2. The only good thing that...
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Jeremy Paxman and The Victorians

Posted by Ellee on Mar 21, 2009 in News, video | 4 comments There were no free parking spaces left in Ely on Thursday evening – Jeremy Paxman was in town signing copies of The Victorians in our stunning cathedral – and his fans came out in droves. Paxman was on a charm offensive and made no mention of a co-author, claiming full credit for the book. I understand from today’s papers that another author did most of the writing because...
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Introducing Jonathan and Tom from ConservativeHome

Posted by Ellee on Mar 20, 2009 in Social Media, video | 2 comments While I was in Brussels this week I met up with two great guys from ConservativeHome who have an influential role with the online political media scene, partiuclarly co-editor Jonathan Isaby. who has had quite a few scoops recently, the latest on Lynton Crosby running Libertas’ European campaign. Tom Greeves who edits the parliament page is also coming up trumps and these guys are both...
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Please support the Natasha Fund

Posted by Ellee on Mar 19, 2009 in Headway | 7 comments Like millions around the world, I have been stunned by the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, a beautiful, talented, warm and intelligent woman in the prime of her life. She was such a shining star – in more ways than one – and in tribute to her, all the lights in Broadway will be dimmed for one minute tonight. My thoughts are with her devastated family, especially her two sons...
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A quick trip to Brussels

Posted by Ellee on Mar 17, 2009 in Headway, Robert Sturdy MEP | 5 comments I’ve just returned from a quick trip to Brussels where I met my MEP Robert Sturdy’s fantastic team for the first time, Neeley, Christine and Alex. Today Robert hosted a manifesto launch for europacolon, raising awareness about colorectal cancer which many people find difficult to talk about because of the delicate area of body affected. But it is estimated this causes 10% of cancer...
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Supporting 1,000 women into leadership roles

Posted by Ellee on Mar 14, 2009 in PR client | 9 comments I am working with an inspirational woman who has pledged to support 1,000 women into leadership roles by 8th March 2011 to celebrate the centenary of International Woman’s Day. Her name is Tina Fahm (pic left) and she runs a training programme promoting confident  and effective leadership. This is surely needed now by organisations more than ever, which I mentioned in an earlier post. She...
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Global poor must be G20 priority

Posted by Ellee on Mar 13, 2009 in PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP | 7 comments World finance leaders meeting to discuss next month’s G20 summit and thrash out the global economic crisis have been sent a clear message from my MEP Robert Sturdy – and I totally endorse every word. In today’s Guardian, he has had a letter published stating that the global poor must be the G20 priority: The G20 summit has the opportunity to make it clear that short-term aid and...
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How businesses can survive the recession

Posted by Ellee on Mar 12, 2009 in News, PR client | 3 comments I met a whole host of inspirational women at a reception in the House of Lords yesterday to celebrate International Women’s Day. It was held to launch a new training programme to develop women leaders by Tina Fahm Training Ltd, a new PR client, and was hosted by Baroness Margaret Prosser, Deputy Chair of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. (more on this later). One of the...
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Pollution control and the agricultural industry

Posted by Ellee on Mar 11, 2009 in PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP | 8 comments A shake-up of the EU’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control directive has a direct impact on poultry and pig farmers, as well as the greenhouse sector. My MEP Robert Sturdy has expressed concern over some of its aspects in this press release just issued: Euro-MP Robert Sturdy urged caution over a new pollution control directive which will regulate the agricultural industry in the...
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Congratulations Janice Small

Posted by Ellee on Mar 9, 2009 in Politics | 7 comments I’m thrilled for Janice Small who has been selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire. We worked together as Conservative regional press officers during the last general election and she was dynamite. She has been unstoppable in her determination for this fantastic opportunity which is a huge privilege, and one I know Janice will...
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“Trash to Cash” experts reveal best finds

Posted by Ellee on Mar 8, 2009 in Headway, video | 3 comments I spent a fabulous afternoon with my fellow Headway Cambridgeshire trustee Trina Hill and her husband Julius who hosted a “Trash to Cash” sale at their home. We were delighted by the professionalism, good nature and humour of the entire team. When the heavy, brooding Fenland skies opened and released huge pellets of rain the size of glass beads and fearsome gusts of wind, everyone...
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Girl guides want stronger role models from women politicians

Posted by Ellee on Mar 8, 2009 in Politics | 9 comments I have never regarded the girl guide movement as political activists. But they clearly have strong views on women and politics, according to a report they have published called alarmingly Political Outsiders:We Care, But Will We Vote? It has been highlighted today to mark International Women’s Day and describe a whole generation of women lost to politics. More than 90 years after women won...
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EP survey shows more women MEPs needed

Posted by Ellee on Mar 5, 2009 in Euro election | 10 comments Having written in the past about the dire shortage of women in British politics, I was fascinated to read the results of a European-based survey on this topic – and discover unsurprisingly that similar attitudes are shared on the continent. The survey of 35,000 women and 5,000 men in 27 countries revealed that politics is very much a male dominated world. The European Parliament...
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Lotus, Lord Mandelson and electric cars

Posted by Ellee on Mar 2, 2009 in News, Politics | 12 comments I did once have a dishy date who collected me in his head turning yellow Lotus Elite. Sitting in the low slung passenger seat was an exhilarating – and breathless – experience. Unlike other motor companies suffering deeply from the recession right now, high performance Lotus still seems to have its head above water and is not seeking a bail-out. In fact, it is planning to recruit...
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