In support of World Cancer Day

Posted by Ellee on Feb 4, 2012 in Blog, PR client | 2 comments Today is World Cancer Day, and it is hard to find a family whose lives have not been affected by this killer disease. I have signed its Declaration in support of their campaign, along with molecular diagnostics company Abcodia,who work with innovative global collaborators to provide earlier diagnosis of cancer. World Cancer Day is using today to unite the world in the fight against cancer by...
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Virgin Health Bank and Cambridge hospitals partnership

Posted by Ellee on Jan 27, 2012 in Blog, PR client | 2 comments Sir Richard Branson has launched an innovative new bank alongside Northern Rock – the Virgin Health Bank - which stores cord blood, the blood that remains in the umbilical cord after a baby has been born and is a rich source of stem cells which can be used for life saving transplants. It will be delivered in partnership with Cambridge University Hospitals. Cord blood banks have been set up...
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Macmillan Cancer Support’s Biggest “Thank You”

Posted by Ellee on Dec 30, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment No words are spoken in this emotionally charged video, but the raw feelings of the six people it features are stripped bare as they read poignant and touching messages of thanks sent by from friends and loved ones suffering from cancer which have been published on the Macmillan Biggest Thank You. You too can add your thanks, those two little words which mean so much. Macmillan’s Biggest Thank...
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Government reforms ignore trans-racial adoption

Posted by Ellee on Dec 22, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 2 comments It’s the best Christmas news for any child languishing in care and waiting to be placed with loving, adoptive parents – the announcement today that the government is replacing its crippling bureaucratic process with a new system.  Proposals include forming an expert panel to develop a new system and assessment form so suitable placements can be made starting next year. I hope the...
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Families describe losing loved ones to sepsis

Posted by Ellee on Dec 12, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments I am struck by the generous selflessness of  bereaved families who genuinely do not want others to suffer like them after losing loved ones -  especially from deaths which they believe were preventable. They have offered to provide case studies about their traumatic experiences, which is crucial when highlighting the importance of a life-saving awareness campaign, such as sepsis, as they...
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Medics petition government to make sepsis a clinical priority

Posted by Ellee on Dec 5, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments The sudden death of Brazilian soccer legend Socrates from sepsis, blood poisoning following an infection, comes at the same time that I am promoting the vital work of the UK Sepsis Trust, which is petitioning the government to make sepsis a clinical priority by establishing it as a medical emergency. Campaigners, made up of patients and their families, as well as doctors and nurses, are urging...
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European robots perform brain surgery

Posted by Ellee on Dec 1, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 7 comments I am totally in awe of the advanced technology used to create “robotic surgeons” that can out-perform the skills of our best neurosurgeons, carrying out vital life-saving operations. Thanks to EU-funded researchers from Germany, Italy, Israel and the UK, this can be done. The robot has performed accurate keyhole neurosurgery on dummies, and when ready for humans, could ease the...
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Why is Cambridge a phenomenon?

Posted by Ellee on Nov 22, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 5 comments The Cambridge Phenomenon is 50 years old and a gripping story which constantly fascinates. To mark this incredible milestone, which saw the creation of home computers, pocket calculators, bluetooth – as well as the technology behind round teabags – its history is being told in a new book, The Cambridge Phenomenon: 50 Years of Innovation and Enterprise, with a foreword written by...
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Antibiotic Action media frenzy

Posted by Ellee on Nov 18, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment Do look out for Prof Laura Piddock and Antibiotic Action on Sky and BBC News today following a media frenzy after the Independent’s page one splash warning about the “unthinkable scenario of untreatable infections.” It follows a parliamentary launch and petition delivery last week to 10 Downing Street. The story also featured today’s Daily Mail, saying that the demise of...
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Antibiotic Action petition at 10 Downing Street

Posted by Ellee on Nov 10, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments Antibiotic Action’s message was delivered straight to the heart of government yesterday by two of its lead campaigners, Prof Laura Piddock and Tracey Guise, as well as nurse Vickie Longstaff and ITV’s best known doc, Dr Hilary Jones. They delivered a petition signed by almost 5,000 clinicians and researchers urging government to support the urgent need for new antibiotics. It followed...
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Antibiotic Action on TV

Posted by Ellee on Nov 8, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments I do hope you will  be glued to both BBC Breakfast and ITV Daybreak tomorrow morning when they both feature the launch of Antibiotic Action, a global initiative to highlight grave concerns about the shortage of  modern antibiotics. The BBC will include some case studies to highlight our desperate dilemma, with fears that one day human health could suffer by returning to a pre-antibiotic era as...
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Steve Jobs and pancreatic cancer research

Posted by Ellee on Nov 7, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 2 comments All the money in the world couldn’t sadly save Apple’s supreme Steve Jobs who died from pancreatic cancer. But hopefully our latest technological advances and medical research will enable others to be saved from an early death. Recalling Jobs’ gaunt and hollow expression is a potent reminder for us all that early diagnosis is vital for survival. So I congratulate my clients...
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David Cameron supports adoption reforms

Posted by Ellee on Oct 6, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments I am delighted to read in today’s Times that David Cameron has vowed to tear up Britain’s adoption rules and end the scandal of thousands of children lost in the care system. The announcement was made in a speech at the Conservative Party conference at the same time that adoption campaigner Francesca Polini urged the Prime Minister to support adoption reforms in an interview with the...
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Adoption with Humanity e-petition launch

Posted by Ellee on Oct 4, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments I have just signed the Adoption with Humanity e-petition which has just been launched on the government’s website.  You too can sign it too by clicking here. It has naturally thrilled adoption campaign reformer Francesca Polini who is delighted to have gained the support of Baroness King of Bow and Bruce Oldfield. This is what they say: Oona King: “Like Francesca, I am an adoptive...
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How our special educational needs provision could be transformed

Posted by Ellee on Sep 20, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments There are 1.7 million children in England with special educational needs, ranging from dyslexia and Down’s syndrome, to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity. The way their needs are met is currently under review by the government. And not a moment too soon. Next month a new foundation is being launched which will enable multi-disciplinary practitioners, including health and social...
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Adoption should not be a last resort

Posted by Ellee on Jun 7, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 7 comments I’m thrilled to see philanthropist Francesca Polini in today’s Times promoting a fairer adoption system both in the UK and internationally. Francesca and her husband Rick went to Mexico to adopt two babies after being turned by their local authority in Ealing where a cap on white couples adopting a black or mixed race child had been reached. As a result, countless children around the...
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Bruce Oldfield and the UK’s “inhumane” adoption system

Posted by Ellee on Apr 28, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments Bruce Oldfield, the renowned couture dress designer, kindly contributed the foreword to Francesca Polini’s terrific book Mexican Takeaway which describes her adventures in Mexico where she adopted a daughter after being rejected by her local authority in London. Bruce reflects on his experiences as a foster child and the “obsessive bureaucracy” of our present adoption system in...
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Francesca’s Mexican Takeaway

Posted by Ellee on Apr 27, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments If you are looking for a good read over the Bank holiday weekend, then I highly recommend Francesca Polini’s riveting read, Mexican Takeaway.  When Francesca and her husband Rick travelled to Mexico, their mission was completely different to that of other tourists, they were there to find a baby to adopt and bring back to their home in the UK after being turned down by their local...
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The Times and its terrific adoption campaign

Posted by Ellee on Apr 19, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 15 comments I would like to commend The Times for the terrific adoption campaign it is running this week. Ask any child if he wants to spend his childhood in an institution or a loving, stable home – and I think you can guess the answer. Just like troubled Maisie who was featured in a BBC documentary last week, and was desperate to be part of a family. The Times yesterday highlighted new data which...
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How does it feel to be an adoptive parent?

Posted by Ellee on Apr 12, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment I was really moved by last night’s BBC 2 documentary featuring traumatised Maisie, who at 8 years-old had two failed adoptions behind her and was desperate to belong to a family. At first I thought the programme was too intrusive as therapists probed and opened up wounds about her troubled past, I felt that the visible distress this caused should have remained private. But then how would...
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John Bird, The Big Issue and adoptions

Posted by Ellee on Apr 7, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 6 comments This post has been written by Francesca Polini, an advocate for adoption reforms in the UK, and published on her blog. I found it so interesting that I have re-published it here. Last week I was invited to the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of The Big Issue. The Big Issue was started by John Bird as a way of getting homeless people back into work and into society. The event itself was low...
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Abcodia’s pancreatic cancer collaboration

Posted by Ellee on Apr 4, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments Pancreatic cancer robbed Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze of his life while in his prime, and has struck Apple’s Steve Jobs and our sensational soulful singer Aretha Franklin. Unbelievably, the survival rate has not improved in 30 years due to its late diagnosis. Abcodia, an innovative newly formed company I am working with, is engaged in the validation and discovery of molecular...
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Elizabeth Taylor and adoption

Posted by Ellee on Mar 28, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment My elder brother has urged me to write a post about Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor who died last week as he admired her greatly. But what can be said that hasn’t already been written? I recalled that she had an adopted daughter Maria and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to highlight the selfless work of Francesca Polini, my client who is campaigning for a review of UK...
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