TV PR

Whicker’s World Foundation launches inspiring Funding Award at Radio Festival

Whicker’s World Foundation launches

inspiring Funding Award at Radio Festival

Whicker’s World Foundation launches the Radio & Audio Funding Award (RAFA) at the Radio Festival, the annual celebration of all things audio at the British Library. The festival brings together a full media scope of leading figures from the UK’s audio industry.

Supporting authored storytelling in the UK, taking us into new or hitherto unseen worlds, RAFA will help fund independent audio documentary makers.

RAFA Awards are worth a total of £7,000.

Submissions for this and existing Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted.

Whicker’s World Foundation will today, at the UK’s popular Radio Festival hosted by broadcaster Paddy O’Connell launch a brand-new funding award – the RAFA – to help aspiring independent audio documentary makers. The awards were created to celebrate and encourage excellence in audio documentaries, and have been generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated journalist Alan Whicker who died in 2013. Whicker wanted to encourage curiosity, stimulate the senses and empower talent which might otherwise never find a place in today’s highly-competitive industry.

The Whicker’s World Foundation, launched in 2015, has already awarded over £100,000.The award prizes consist of £5,000 for the winner and a runner-up prize of £2,000. The winning pitches will offer new and exciting ideas for audio documentaries, meeting Whicker’s World Foundation criteria of: taking us into a new or hitherto unseen worlds; being personal but not partisan; and with an emphasis on strong original storytelling and development of the medium. Applicants need to supply up to six minutes worth of audio in support of their proposals.Deadline for entries is 23rd December 2016, there is no application fee and candidates can apply online. The best five will be invited to pitch at an event in March 2017 and the winners will be announced at next year’s Radio Festival.Whicker’s broadcasting career began in radio and he went on to join Radio 2 in the late 1990s, adding what Jim Moir, the then Controller, described as “Great lustre to my network”. Alan was an avid fan of radio documentary and told the press he wanted to return to it because, unlike TV, it didn’t ‘dumb down’ – radio and ‘assumed an intelligent audience’. Alan Whicker’s passion continues into new generations with awards such as RAFA, created to empower emerging talent.The panel of judges will be looking for imaginative storytelling, either breaking new ground or taking a familiar path in a new and innovative direction. Valerie Kleeman , Whicker’s partner in life and work for over 40 years, said: “Alan was well aware that he had been lucky enough to start working at a time when serious journalism was respected and presenters given the freedom to fashion their own programmes. He and his colleagues were writing the grammar of what was to follow; they were given support and opportunities and often allowed to learn on the job. He was aware that this scenario is not replicated today; money is scarce and commissioners are reluctant to green light without a celebrity name fronting a subject with which they often have little connection. Alan, who felt the best shot of himself was the back of his head, abhorred this trend. He was apolitical; he sought to intrigue and stimulate but not to influence. He strived to uncover the unusual as well as entertain. Above all he was a writer and observer who wrote and filmed what he saw. At the Foundation we seek to use Alan’s legacy to further his vision and to help those with talent to take the first step up a ladder which is increasingly difficult to climb.“

Jane Ray, Consultant Artistic Director for Whicker’s World Foundation said: “I am thrilled that the Radio Festival are partnering this new funding award for audio. I am a passionate believer in the enduring power of the well made, thoughtfully produced audio documentary. The other day we were contacted by someone looking for a series Alan Whicker had made 18 years ago. They knew the title and could describe the pictures vividly – then remembered they’d actually ‘seen’ radio broadcasts. Those who inspire us to listen, I mean really listen, and take us deeper into understanding the notions and motivations that shape our human story need to be nurtured. If this award goes some way to helping talented independent audio producers realise their documentary dreams Alan Whicker’s legacy will be wonderfully well served.”Roger Cutsforth, The Radio Academy Managing Director added: “The Radio Academy is proud to be partnering with Whicker’s World Foundation on this fantastic initiative to encourage and support new talent in audio documentary making. The Radio & Audio Funding Award [RAFA] is a wonderful legacy of the late, great Alan Whicker and his passion for the medium and will be a wonderful addition to the Radio Festival.”

Francesca Panetta, last year’s runner up for ‘The Dhammazedi Bell’ and multimedia special projects editor at The Guardian said: “It’s wonderful to see this new funding award. There is so much talent out there but few avenues for funding creative audio. I’m looking forward to seeing or more appropriately hearing the results.”

Nina Garthwaite, founding director of In the Dark Radio, added: “While the Internet has opened up new platforms for independent audio production, it’s still not always easy for producers to find the funding to do the work they’re passionate about and you need money to have the time to really explore your ideas. So it’s great that the Whicker’s World Foundation Awards want to support radio makers with a strong independent voice and a desire to develop the medium. I’m excited to hear the results!”

Will Jackson, managing Director of the Radio Independents Group commented: “RIG greatly welcomes this new funding award, which gives the next generation of Britain’s audio documentary makers an invaluable opportunity to join the ranks of Britain’s highly successful indie production sector.”

Alan Hall, previous Whicker’s world Foundation audio judge and CEP of Indie Falling Tree said: “It’s exciting to welcome a new funding award that encourages documentary production to go beyond worlds (literal or figurative) known already to us and, in so doing, to develop the unique qualities of a medium now entering a new golden age!”

Whicker’s World Foundation’s pre-existing awards are also opening entries for submissions today.

The Audio Recognition Award

This is moving to The Radio Festival. This is for a documentary, 15 minutes or over, broadcast or published online in the previous year. It was won this summer by Cathy Fitzgerald’s Little Volcanoes. The award is for £5,000 to the winner and £2,000 for the runner-up. The winners will be announced at next year’s Festival.

The Film and TV Funding Award

This is the primary focus of Whicker’s World Foundation. Each year £80,000 will be awarded to a new director with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary which fulfils the core criteria of the Foundation and can be completed for screening with this award. The money will be paid in instalments to the director’s film company, enabling a project which deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. This year it was won by Alex Bescoby for Burma’s Lost Royals. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2017 and the shortlists will be announced in May 2016. The first winners will be announced by Whicker’s World Foundation at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Ceremony, which will take place on the final night of the 2017 festival, 13th June 2017.

The Whicker’s World Sage Award

‘Retirement’ was not a word in Alan’s vocabulary. He was 83 when he wrote and presented Whicker’s War, a much acclaimed account of his army experiences in Italy for Channel 4. He made his last series for BBC Two, Journey of a Lifetime, in his late eighties. The Sage award will recognise a TV or audio professional who has come to air with an authored story for the first time, a prize of £5,000 will be awarded annually to an applicant aged 50 plus. Submissions of no more than 10 minutes; this can be for presentation but must be their own work. A runner-up will receive £2,000. Keith Earnest Hoult won this award for for Fluechtlinge – Refugee. Keith, a fan of Alan Whicker’s ‘gentle approach’ to interviewing, was inspired to create a ten-minute film about Syrians seeking refuge in a disused airport used for the Berlin Airlift. When he witnessed his friend’s wife Caroline trying to help refugees against a growing backlash he ‘felt the urge to film it if only for her family to reflect on later in life’. Keith learnt his film-making skills at the SAE Institute after redundancy and divorce turned his life upside-down. Judges were impressed that he made this entirely self-funded film as ‘a simple tale of ordinary people helping other ordinary people at their time of most desperate need.’

For further details on the awards and entry forms please go to

www.whickersworldfoundation.com

-ENDS

Notes to editors:

For images, media information and interviews please contact:

Siobhan Connor at Connor PR siobhan@connorpr.com + 44 (0) 7966 177025

For Terms and Conditions and award Criteria please go to http://whickersworldfoundation.com/application-forms/

Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation

https://twitter.com/whickersworld @whickersworld

About Whicker’s World Foundation

On 7 June 2015 Whicker’s World Foundation, whose principle aim is to give a much needed fillip to authored documentary storytelling in the UK, launched three new documentary awards worth over £100,000 for the promotion of curiosity in programme making, generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated broadcast journalist Alan Whicker. The launch took place in the Sheffield Winter Gardens led by Alex Graham, chair or Doc/Fest, Jane Ray, Artistic Director for the foundation and Kim Longinotto, multi award winning filmmaker. Entries for 2017 Awards opened on September 26th 2016 www.whickersworldfoundation.com

Radio Festival

Radio Festival is an annual event organised by Radio Academy, a registered charity dedicated to the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK radio broadcasting and audio production. www.radioacademy.org

Connor PR, Whicker’s World Foundation, Siobhan Connor PR

ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION NOW AVAILBLE TO VIEW AT BFI SOUTHBANK AS PART OF LATEST ACQUISITIONS EXHIBITION

Inside Whicker’s World: The life and travels of Alan Whicker

Alan Whicker collection on view now as part of an exhibition of material from the BFI National Archive’s Special Collections; ‘Latest Acquisitions’ is free to view in the Mezzanine Gallery at BFI Southbank until October 23

Items on display include Alan Whicker’s passports, a BBC Audience report for Whicker Down Under, interview question cards for Papa Doc: The Black Sheep (1969) and The World of James Bond (1967), photographs, correspondence, and shooting schedules
Test your knowledge by taking part in a travel quiz made by the Whicker’s World Foundation – https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/

Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted

As well as caring for one of the world’s richest and most significant moving image collections, the BFI National Archive also holds world-class Special Collections of scripts, posters, designs, photographs and other documents, including the archives of some of Britain’s most important film and programme makers. This exhibition presents highlights from some of our exciting recent acquisitions including the papers of Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, television journalist and documentary-maker Alan Whicker, and S John Woods, the man behind many of the best-loved Ealing Studios posters. The exhibition is open now and free to view until October 23rd 2016 at BFI Southbank, Mezzanine Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT.

The BFI National Archive is now home to the archives of pioneering investigative TV journalist, Alan Whicker, donated by Valerie Kleeman, Whicker’s World Foundation. The collection contains meticulous records of one of the most enduring and influential careers in British television history, spanning the late 1950s into the 21^st century.

This is an extensive and significant donation covering the entire career of a world-renowned broadcaster, and represents a unique insight into the production methods of a master documentarian. Alan Whicker’s name is a by-word for brilliantly crafted and revealing studies of people and places, whether exploring behind the scenes of the Miss World competition, interviewing Papa Doc in Haiti, or exposing the lifestyles of the hippies of San Francisco, with an enquiring mind and a sceptical tone. This unlikely figure, clad in Gucci tie and blazer, found his way into the nation’s hearts as he went where his audience was unlikely to follow.

The meticulously kept Alan Whicker archive spans the years 1938-2014. It includes a school report from 1938, documents relating to his war career and letters, photographs, extensive production files, audience reports, interview notes and questions (including Whicker’s hand-annotated question cards) and transcripts of every TV programme he made, along with some, as yet, unidentified films. The archive gives an insider’s view of some of the key events, social trends and personalities of the 20^th century, while fully documenting the changing world of television reportage across more than five decades.

Around Whicker’s World in 13 Guesses

Test your knowledge of Alan Whicker’s Life and Work by taking part in our quiz

https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/

Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted

The Funding Award

This is the primary focus of Whicker’s World Foundation. Each year £80,000 will be awarded to a new director with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary which fulfils the core criteria of the Foundation and can be completed for screening with this award. The money will be paid in instalments to the director’s film company, enabling a project which deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. This year it was won by Alex Bescoby for Burma’s Lost Royals. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2017 and the shortlists will be announced in May 2016. Entrants must be aged 35 years or younger on the closing date for applications. The first winners will be announced by Whicker’s World Foundation at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Ceremony, which will take place on the final night of the 2017 festival, 13th June 2017.

The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA)

For 2017 we are introducing a new Funding Award for Radio and Audio documentary projects in association with the Radio Academy. This is for a documentary, 15 minutes or over, broadcast or published online in the previous year. The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA) has a £5,000 first prize and £2,000 runner up award. The deadline for this award is the 23rd of December, with the best pitch being announced at a special event in March 2017.

The Recognition Awards

In addition to our funding awards there are two further annual prizes to recognise completed work: the ‘Audio Award’ and the ‘Sage Award’, the latter of which is for the finest industry newcomer over the age of fifty.

Alan worked in radio before TV and was snapped up by Radio 2 in the late 1990s, adding what Jim Moir, the Controller from 1996 to 2003, described as “great lustre to my network”. Initially Alan’s radio programmes revolved around re-visiting his most memorable encounters from Whicker’s World: from the ‘Ten Pound Poms’ to Margaret Rutherford’s transsexual adoptee who ‘gave birth’ to a mixed-race daughter in South Carolina. He went on to create a radio history of television called It’ll Never Last.

Whicker’s World Foundation will award an annual £5,000 prize for the best audio project of over 15 minutes in length, broadcast in the last year. A runner-up will receive £2,000.

The Whicker’s World Sage Award

For further details on the awards and entry forms please go to

www.whickersworldfoundation.com

-ENDS

Notes to editors:

For images, media information and interviews please contact:

Siobhan Connor at Connor PR siobhan@connorpr.com + 44 (0) 7966 177025

For Terms and Conditions and award Criteria please go to http://whickersworldfoundation.com/application-forms/

Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation

https://twitter.com/whickersworld @whickersworld

About Whicker’s World Foundation

Nadiya Hussain is supporting ‘Be School Ready’, PTA UK’s national campaign to help families with children starting school in September

Exclusive interview with The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya Hussain is supporting ‘Be School Ready’, PTA UK’s national campaign to help families with children starting school in September. The Be School Ready magazines, produced by PTA UK, which is also celebrating its 60^th year, have been distributed providing both practical and emotional support for parents, carers and children so they can start school life with confidence.

http://www.pta.org.uk/BeSchoolReady

Get your kids making their healthy after school snacks as well as eating them! Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story is a book of recipes and stories devised and written by Nadiya herself. Cook up a batch of Carrot and Nutmeg Cookies on a Sunday afternoon and share the story of Rapunzel’s Enchanted Carrots while the cookies bake or read about Ruby-Red and the Three Bears and their Very Berry Muffins while you wait for your own to rise! Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story publishes 8^th September 2016 in hardback, priced £14.99

As a mother of three very lively children it is safe to say that I have had my fair share of ‘mum I’m starving’ ‘how long before dinner?’, I’m so hungry’, ‘please can I have a crisp?’, ‘if I can’t have crisp, can I have a small biscuit?’. Whether you have one child, three like me or more, I know it’s the worst feeling trying to decide whether your child should have a snack or should I just let them have whatever they want. If not to just keep them quiet before dinner but ease your own guilt.

I spent years wondering what the right thing was to do during that very intense time between school pick up and dinner time. I will not lie, there have been times where I have just given the kids the easiest option, a packet of crisps, a small bar of chocolate, a biscuit (or two). But I noticed that the kids were like yoyos. After school the kids slumped, tired and exhausted from the day. They walk through the door and as I rush around they have a quick sweet treat and they are then the polar opposite, high as kites, excitable before the inevitable sugar crash to follow.

A few years ago I decided that I needed to overhaul my eating habits along with the kids. I just couldn’t do the constant peak and trough that come with lots of sugar all day long. Better eating habits didn’t mean taking everything away, it just meant eating sugar in moderation and incorporating more fruit and vegetables where possible. I thought it would be a difficult change to make when in fact the transition was the opposite of our sugar crashes and slumps. The transition was smooth.

One of the first things I knew I had to tackle was the time between school pick up and dinner. Upon picking the children up my first question is always ‘how was your day?’ and all three kids always respond with ‘Great, what’s for dinner?’ One of my first tips is that I always take a bottle of water (not chilled). I find children are weary of drinking chilled water because it’s cold and harder to drink quickly. So I take a bottle of water at room temperature and allow them to drink to their fill as soon as I see them. I never believe my children when I’ve asked them if they’ve drunk lots of water through the day. What I like to address is the fact that they may just be very thirsty.

As a fruitier alternative to plain water I like to have water bottles with wide necks and to this I add slices of oranges, kiwi and strawberries and leave it to infuse during the day and take that with me on the school run. Once they have drunk all the water they can finish the fruit inside too.

In between sorting the children, preparing for dinner, finishing emails and doing laundry, I always have a few snacks that I have pre prepared or snacks that can be quickly made. Here is a list of a few of our favourites:

Frozen Yoghurt – small pots of yoghurt, I just pierce a lolly pop stick through the covering and stick the whole thing in the freezer. When frozen, peel off the top of the yoghurt pot and ease the frozen yoghurt out of its pot.
Frozen Blueberry Yoghurt Sticks – take a wooden skewer and pierce it with about 10 blueberries. Dip the whole stick into yoghurt and place the sticks on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen take them off the sheet and place inside a freezer bag and store in the freezer.
Apple and Peanut Rings – core and horizontally slice a green apple, spread the tops with smooth peanut butter and eat straight away.
Houmous Celery Sticks – cut slices of celery sticks about 2 inches long. Fill the inside with houmous and serve.
Summer Fruit Spring Rolls – take a circle of rice paper and soak for a few seconds till soft. Squeeze off any excess water and place down. Add any fruit, the more colourful the better and wrap like a spring roll.
Boiled eggs – I like to keep boiled eggs in the fridge during the week. They are quick simple and nutritious and very easy to eat.
Turkey Ham wrapped Cheese sticks – take a small stick of cheese and wrap around a slice of turkey ham.
Mini omelettes – whisk up some eggs and add onion, cheese, chives and chopped peppers. Pour the mix into a 12 muffin cupcake tin and bake in the oven. Once cooled these can be stored for a week.
Steamed edamame beans – these are great placed in a bowl, splashed with a little water and the covered in cling. Cooked in a microwave for 3 minutes and then sprinkled with salt and paprika.
Plain popcorn – plain popcorn, quickly popped and a large handful is just enough.

In terms of drinks on a warm day I love to make the kids a quick cold smoothie after school and a nice warm drink on the colder school days.

Cold Drink – in a smoothie maker I like to add ice, mint, 1 green apple, the juice of a lime, half water and half apple juice and whizz.

Hot Drink – in a pan add coconut milk and heat up, to this I like to add unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract and honey, boil and serve.

These are all great ways to give the kids a little something to eat to take the edge off the hunger before dinner. But also a great way of getting some of their 5 a day in too.

This is just enough food to keep them sustained long enough to get on to help cook dinner in the kitchen with me, which is their favourite thing to do after school.

Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Baking Busy…Sooty, Sweep and Michelle Heaton battle it out in the kitchen for Sport Relief 2016

Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Baking Busy…

Sooty, Sweep and Michelle Heaton battle it out in the kitchen for Sport Relief 2016

The pie’s the limit for Michelle Heaton, but will Sooty’s cakes rise like a well-behaved soufflé or fall at the final curdle?

Limited edition Orla Kiely apron for Sport Relief – perfect for those wanting to get messy in the kitchen

Roll up, Roll up, CITV’s Sooty and Sweep have collaborated with TV personality Michelle Heaton in the kitchen for a fun-packed photo shoot to raise some dough for Sport Relief.

The nation’s favourite bear has been ‘Izzy Wizzy’ baking cakes for a Sport Relief Bake Sale in a bid to inspire the nation to get their baking trays out and raise some money for Sport Relief. Meanwhile, Sweep has slipped on his boxing gloves to show his knockout support for Sport Relief.

Sooty and Sweep’s new look is thanks to designer Orla Kiely, who has created a limited edition apron for Sport Relief. The apron is presented each episode to the winner of ‘The Great Sport Relief Bake Off’ and is available to buy exclusively from Sport Relief official partners: brands-for-less homewareretailer, HomeSense, TK Maxx stores, tkmaxx.com and sportrelief.com. The apron retails at £12.99 with at least £5.25 going to Sport Relief.

Sooty, Sweep and Michelle Heaton battle it out in the kitchen for Sport Relief 2016

The nation has been inspired to join in the Sport Relief fun and games and host their own bake sales to raise money to help transform people’s lives both across the UK and in the world’s poorest communities. So if you’re a fan, the apron is the perfect way to ‘rise to the occasion’, supporting a great cause whilst baking yourself proud in the kitchen.

Sooty’s right hand man, Richard Cadell told us Sooty had whispered in his ear that holding a bake sale is a piece of cake and he and Sweep had loads of fun with their new friend Michelle, even if she was a little bit messy in the kitchen!

Michelle Heaton said: “I urge everyone to put on a pinny, get baking and throw a showstopping bake sale for Sport Relief. Baking with Sooty & Sweep was the icing on the cake for me! By purchasing this apron from HomeSense and TK Maxx you can help to transform people’s lives both across the UK and in the world’s poorest communities.”

Since 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £262 million. The Sport Relief Games will take place between Friday 18^th and Sunday 20^th March, bringing the entire nation together to get active, raise cash and change lives.

The money raised from the apron will go towards helping people living incredibly tough lives. Half of the money raised by the public for Sport Relief is used to make a difference right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities.

Don’t miss out on your very own limited edition Orla Kiely apron from HomeSense, TK Maxx stores, tkmaxx.com, sportrelief.com and help raise money for Sport Relief 2016

-Ends-

Media Information

Individual images are available on request

For further press information and interview requests please contact:

Siobhan Connor at Connor PR / 07966 177025 / Siobhan@connorpr.com

Join the conversation

Facebook – @myHomeSense

Twitter – @HomeSenseUK

Instagram – @HomeSenseUK

#raisesomedough

#SR16

#GBBOsportrelief

@sportrelief

@Sootyandco

Details and Prices:

All profits from the sale of the apron and the tea towels will be donated to Sport Relief to help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and around the world.

Apron £12.99 with at least £5.25 going to Sport Relief

ABOUT SPORT RELIEF

Sport Relief brings the entire nation together to get active, raise cash and change lives. Since 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £262 million. The money raised by the public is spent by Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives, across the UK and the world’s poorest communities. It all leads up to the Sport Relief weekend and an unmissable night of TV on the BBC, broadcasting live from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Sport Relief 2016 will take place from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March 2016. You can run, swim, cycle or even walk yourself proud at events across the country. There’s a distance for everyone in the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games, whether you’re sporty or not. Find out more at www.sportrelief.com.

Comic Relief is a UK charity, which aims to create a just world, free from poverty.

Since 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £1billion. That money has helped, and is helping, people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world.

For information about Comic Relief and the work it carries out, please visit www.comicrelief.com

Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)

About HomeSense

HomeSense launched in the UK in April 2008 and has 39 stores in the UK. HomeSense operates a unique ‘off-price’ concept, which offers quality and branded homeware for less than the recommended retail price. These savings are passed on to customers through a combination of opportunistic buying, established relationships with manufacturers and simple, no-frills operation. HomeSense is part of TJX Europe, a subsidiary of TJX Companies, Inc. Find your nearest store and loads more information at www.homesense.com

About TK Maxx

TK Maxx and HomeSense are the official Sport Relief sponsors for the fifth campaign running and have raised £17.7 million since 2005 through sales, customer donations and staff fundraising. TK Maxx is a designer brands-for-less retailer implementing a unique ‘off-price’ concept which originated in the US. It sells designer and high street brands of womenswear, menswear, homeware, gifts and accessories at up to 60% less than the recommended retail price (RRP). TK Maxx launched in the UK in 1994 and now has over 250 stores nationwide. Opportunistic buying and a no-frills operation means TK Maxx can pass huge savings on to the customer. A typical store has over 50,000 items in stock and receives 10,000 new pieces, styles and colours a week, which means stock is consistently fresh. TK Maxx is part of TJX Europe, the European subsidiary of the US group TJX Companies Inc. For more information see www.tkmaxx.com

Orla Kiely

The creative world of Orla Kiely was founded in 1995 to express visually, her love of pattern, colour, texture and rhythm, which as components all play and work together. Once hailed as the ‘queen of print,’ she is world renowned for her instinctive graphic discipline to simplify and stylise everyday motifs and forms. With clean, orderly repeat constructions and a boldness of scale, her work achieves strength with a very modern quality, while her love for all things mid century creates charming, uplifting and instantly recognisable prints.

From a small collection of accessories, commissioned exclusively by Harrods following her graduation from the Royal Academy of Art, the range has grown to include a complete ready-to-wear collection as well as homeware and stationery. Through key collaborations, Orla Kiely has launched a perfume, designed sold out shoe collections for Clarks – an ongoing partnership as well as publishing two books – ‘Pattern’ & ‘Home’ which celebrating both her prints and her love for interior design.

Globally, the brand is gaining momentum with key stockists in both fashion and home. Orla Kiely has a number of shops through the UK and has grown significantly with global reach in New York following the launch of her collaborations with Uniqlo and Target.

The Orla Kiely customer is creative, intelligent and stylish. She is not afraid to stand out and does it fashionably. The combination of luxurious fabric and attention to detail leads to a loyal following including Kate Middleton, Kirsten Dunst , Keira Knightley, Alexa Chung and Emma Watson.

She continues to work with fashion contemporaries, Leith Clark, Liz Goldwin and Venetia Scott.

Orla Kiely regularly presents at London Fashion Week and continues to surprise and impress, her presentations reaching cult status amongst fans and press alike.

The Sooty Show

The Sooty Show is the longest running children’s TV show in the world. The iconic yellow bear made his TV debut on the BBC in the 1950s and is currently enjoying a revival in the UK, with The Sooty Show airing daily on CITV and on ITV at weekends. Sooty, Sweep and Soo, with their current owner and presenter Richard Cadell, perform to sell-out audiences in their live tours and Sooty the Movie is set to go into production this year. www.thesootyshow.com

Connor PR’s latest TV project 41 Dogs In My Three Bed Semi – Friday 9th October 2015, 8pm, Channel 5

41 Dogs In My Three Bed Semi

Friday 9th October 2015, 8pm, Channel 5

Dog-mad Lynn Everett loves her pet dogs so much she shares her semi-detached home with 41 of them
Meet animal owner of 60, Steve Lucock, who claims his appearance on Britain’s Got Talent contributed to a failed marriage and left him with a home full of animals
Dog enthusiast Emmie Stevens, 27, is so devoted to her pets that she has spent £60,000 on pampering them – with two hounds even getting hitched

Lynn Everett

There are estimated to be 71 million pets in Britain today, and 45% of households now own at least one. However, for some, one is nowhere near enough. In this remarkable film, a Middlechild production – we reveal Britain’s most staggering animal obsessives and witness what happens when animal obsessions get out of hand; the animosity, the relationship breakdowns, the risk of losing everything, and the tales of people who love animals so much they collect dozens of them in their homes.

In this one-hour documentary screened on October 9th at 8.00pm on Channel 5, we meet 57-year-old dog-mad Lynn Morgan from Barnsley, a dog obsessive. Many people have one of their favourite breeds of dogs as a pet, Lynn has one in every colour! At last count, Lynn had 41 dogs, all living inside her modest semi-detached home. Lynn lives with 25 French Bulldogs, six Chinese Crested dogs and 10 Miniature English Bull Terriers.

41 Dogs in a 3 bed Semi

We follow Britain’s Got Talent performer Steve Lucock and his 60 animals as he battles to put food in the mouths of his beloved wild family, whilst attempting to feed his own obsession; and dog-lover Emmie Stevens from Croydon who has a paw print tattooed on her wedding finger.

Lynn Everett and husband, Tony Morgan, live amongst their 41 dogs in her three-bedroomed semi on a very normal-looking street in Barnsley. The dogs are free to roam the downstairs of the house and share the sofas with Lynn and Tony. 41 is the maximum number the council will allow her to keep but if she could, she’d have many more. It’s a stressful existence living amongst 41 dogs and Lynn and Tony have a very fiery relationship, especially when it comes to matters concerning the dogs.

41 Dogs in a 3 bed Semi

In this film, we learn all about their lifestyle and witness the effect it has on their relationship. We meet Lynn’s disabled dogs and she explains how she gives every dog a chance, no matter how much it costs her. We reveal that Lynn breeds some of her more prized pooches and that this helps fund the upkeep of her extra-large family.

Lynn leaves the house just once a year, to go on a scouting mission to Crufts. Lynn began by breeding Bull Terriers but soon found that she couldn’t bear to part with them once born. She has sold some of her more prized puppies in the past but even though she has been breeding dogs since she was 18, she admits it’s becoming nearly impossible to let any new ones go. And now, as long as she sticks within the 41 she’s allowed, instead of selling, she’s buying too! Lynn has five chest freezers and spends £280 on tripe each month to feed her pets. She also buys copious amounts of fabric softener for the dogs’ blankets and there are beds set up for them in the front room.

Not many people could cope with the set-up the couple have in the house but Lynn’s personality seems to suit it perfectly. The worst consequence of their lifestyle choice is the abuse they attract from outsiders who don’t believe the dogs can be healthy or happy in such an environment. This has resulted in substantial trolling over the Internet, on dog-based forums and social media. The pinnacle of the abuse came during Christmas 2014, when a brick was thrown through their window.

Meanwhile in Blyth, Northumberland, animal addict 47-year-old Steve Lucock was at the peak of his career as a magician in the mid-2000s, performing around the country with his wife as his on stage assistant. As Steve is so obsessed with animals, he based their entire show around them. When their act featured on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent, the exposure resulted in 100 animals in need of a home being dropped on their doorstep, in addition to the 60 they already had! Steve’s reluctance to part with the new animals put a strain on his marriage, eventually leading to divorce and plunging Steve in financial disarray.

Not every animal act on Britain’s Got Talent goes the same way as Pudsey or Matisse it seems. Now, unemployed and without a performing partner, Steve has been forced to reduce the number of animals he lives with back to a more modest level of 60. Steve’s living room is home to a parrot and around the rest of the house you’ll find dogs, cats, meerkats, owls, raccoons, skunks, snakes, turtles, rats, doves, rabbits and Steve’s showpiece… his foxes.

The foxes are house-trained and his red fox, identical to the ones who roam the streets at night, is as tame as a ‘well-trained dog’. He often takes his fox when he entertains at children’s parties, much to the amazement of the attendees, who cannot believe how domesticated it is. Steve’s animal obsession has had serious financial repercussions. He only manages to feed his animals through donations given to him after shows he puts on for free locally. However, he is determined to continue growing his collection and is always on the lookout for new additions. In this film, we follow Steve as he tries to turn his fortunes around. We witness a rather tragic performance at a holiday camp and see evidence of Steve’s problems with money. However, he’s come up with a new idea for a show that he hopes will be a big hit on the kids’ party scene. Called Animalgique, it tells the story of the animals’ struggle against man and what children can do to help. Steve rehearses his show and promotes it around Blyth before the big night of his premiere arrives.

In Wiltshire, Mary Cunningham’s small house is overrun with cats. For many years she’s been taking them in and providing homes to any that are offered to her. Her whole life revolves around her feline family. Mary’s house is also brimming with clutter, she claims that this in fact just ‘stock’. Mary raises money for her cats by visiting car boot sales and fetes, selling her ‘stock’. In this film we learn that Mary faces the threat of eviction if the number of cats increases in her home, or if she can’t maintain the property. We watch as Mary attempts to secure a pitch at the biggest event of the year, The Calne Summer Festival and Carnival. If she can get a stall there, she’ll clear a lot of her ’stock’ and make enough money to do some decorating.

Emmie Stevens’ is an animal obsessive in training – her current 12 dogs are some of the most pampered pooches in the country. Emmie, 27, from Croydon, South London, is obsessed with dressing up canines and even calls them her children. Over the past seven years she has spent £60K on them. To Emmie, her dogs are her children and she feels a very maternal connection to them. As she says, “parents like dressing their children up” and that’s precisely what she does with her dogs. She has a whole room devoted to their outfits. Recently, Emmie married two of her dogs at a lavish ceremony attended by 30 of their best doggie friends. In the film we learn that Emmie’s addiction to dogs started after enduring years of confidence-destroying bullying before buying her first dog, Doodles. The love and happiness she got from him, and the compulsion to care that grew inside her, drove her to seek that ‘buzz’ over and over again. If there was more room in her house she’d have more dogs and one day Emmie fully intends on increasing her collection.

-Ends-

Connor PR promoting 41 Dogs In My Three Bed Semi, Connor PR expert in TV promotion

PUSSIES GALORE: THE WOMAN WITH A THOUSAND CATS

PUSSIES GALORE: THE WOMAN WITH A THOUSAND CATS

Friday 18th September, 8:00pm – 9.00pm

Channel 5

There are over 9 millions cats in our UK homes, with most owners living with a single feline friend, however for someone just isn’t enough. In this extraordinary one hour programme we meet some of the most fanatical kitty lovers who have taken their love one step further. We meet a woman who can’t stop taking local strays in, a man with a cat tattoo obsession, we get an insight into the world of cat competitions and we visit a unique establishment that allows you to enjoy your food whilst stroking a pussy.

Lynea Lattanzio is the embodiment of a crazy cat lady, she has over 1000 cats on her premises and is still unable to say no to more. What started off as company for the divorced retiree, has now spiralled into taking over her whole existence.

Lynea was refused a cat as a child and has been working hard since, making up for lost time. We visit her Californian home and see her surrounded by her furry family, witnessing just how she manages to keep things ticking. With a thousand cats on the property is it all getting too much for Lynea or will she always be thinking of the many more roaming the streets?

From Crazy Cat Lady to Crazy Cat Man, we meet pussy magnet Andy Richards who has spent the last 20 years of his life dedicating his time to helping cats. Andy, the manager of the East Lancashire Cats charity store and owner of 18 of his own, has now racked up 40 cat related tattoos! We join Andy as he embarks upon his latest design, as he goes under the needle for two more tatts. Will Andy’s cat inking obsession come to an end or will he run out of space first?

Later in the episode we meet up with some UK based cat crazies as we discover the world of the Cat Competition. We follow Sue Miller from Devon, a self admitted cat obsessive, who is taking seven of her eighteen cats to the West of England and South Wales Cat Society Show in hope of adding to her vast collection of ribbons and rosettes. We see the preparation, the judging and the results and find out just how much her little superstars winning means to her. Will the pressures of the competition get too much for Sue or will see come away with more accolades?

In the final instalment of the hour we enter a unique establishment that allows people to eat their lunch and drink a coffee surrounded by their favourite feline. We meet Katie Jane Glazier who has opened up Newcastle’s first of its kind, the Cat Café called Mog on the Tyne! In a café influenced by its phenomenon success in Japan, you can now eat your lunch at the same time as stroking a pussy. Will Katie’s unique business venture be a roaring success or will it be doomed to failure?

-Ends-

Connor PR specialist in TV programme promotion, Connor PR working with Channel 5, Connor PR expert in entertainment PR

Very sad to hear about the death of TV psychic Colin Fry who I worked with at Living TV on Most Haunted & 6ixth Sense

I worked with Colin Fry for over 5 years launching his programmes on Living TV.

One very proud moment was landing a five page feature in The coolest magazine of the day The Face back in the early noughties

Colin Fry, who has died aged 53, was a self-proclaimed medium who relayed messages from “the dead” to audiences in Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Japan; on British satellite television he featured in such “paranormal reality” shows as Most Haunted and 6ixth Sense.

Viewers hoping for dire warnings from beyond the grave would be disappointed. A warm and charismatic performer, Fry’s stage pronouncements tended towards the prosaic. Bereaved grandchildren were instructed to tidy their rooms; dead parents reassured their offspring that the end had been relatively peaceful.

Sceptics countered that Fry’s main talent lay in basic “cold reading” techniques – the art of analysing body language in order to make high-probability guesses about a person. In 1992 Fry was caught out at a seance when the lights were turned on unexpectedly, revealing that he was still holding a “spirit trumpet” that was meant to be suspended in mid-air. Fry later put the incident down to his relative inexperience at the time. He also denied any suggestions of exploitation, pointing to his training as a bereavement counsellor. Members of his audience were encouraged to seek professional help if Fry felt they were struggling to cope with their loss.

Though he had initially refused to appear on television on the grounds that most programmes made fun of spiritualism, Fry gave in when he was approached by producers at the age of 40. The format of the shows, however, tended once again towards the banal. A message broadcast before 6ixth Sense admitted that “differing opinions exist as to the true nature of clairvoyance and clairaudience”. None the less, the subject has proved adaptable to the small screen. Most Haunted completed its 17th series in 2015.

Colin Fry was born on May 19 1962 in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. His mother, Margaret, a student nurse, had intended to remain at home after the birth but suffered from post-partum depression and decided that work would be beneficial. Colin was raised in large part by his maternal grandmother, Lilian, with whom he shared a close – he would say psychic – bond.

From an early age, Colin became aware of an ability to perceive things that other members of his family could not. A vision of an old man – “like a taller, slightly thinner version of [Doctor Who] William Hartnell” – at the foot of his bed was a first glimpse of “Magnus”, who would become Fry’s proclaimed “spirit guide” in adulthood. Aged four, Colin announced to the table at teatime that “Old Nanny”, his great-grandmother, had died. A telegram to that effect arrived the next day.

After leaving school at 16 without any qualifications, Fry worked in the retail industry while giving demonstrations at spiritualist churches. But it was not until his stepbrother, Michael, died of Aids in 1996 that he resolved to become a full-time medium. Fry had nursed Michael for many years, and saw a chance to keep the relationship intact. “But he’s very clever,” he explained in 2003: “He’ll often pass messages to me through other mediums.”

Fry went on to become a reverend of the Spiritualist Church, and wrote several books on spiritual and mental well-being. A memoir, The Happy Medium, was published in 2012. The title seemed to contradict a life that had had its share of physical hardship. He became partially deaf aged 23 and relied on hearing aids in later years. Last April he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

A heavy smoker, he recalled an earlier encounter with a fellow spiritualist, who disapproved: “This old love said to me: ‘That’ll kill you, you know.’ I replied: ‘My love, do you honestly think that bothers me? I know where I’m going.’”

Colin Fry is survived by his civil partner, Mikey.

Colin Fry, born May 19 1962, died August 25 2015 – The Daily Telegraph

Tribute to the Queen of Saturday Night Television from a Blind Date contestant

I am so sad to hear about Cilla Black. She was the queen of Saturday night TV when I was growing up! Blind Date owned Saturday night in the 90s and I was very lucky to be part of it. Cilla had a great sense of humour and what you saw on television was the real Cilla. There was no pretence about her, she was the queen of entertainment. Like many others, Blind Date helped pave my way for a career in TV and I’m still in touch with some of the production team. I went onto work with Cilla when she launched her own show on Living TV. I was number three and picked by Keith from Dublin. We won a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands and it was magical. Flew First Class and Suggs from Madness was on the plane. Happy memories!

Siobhan Connor contestant on Blind Date, Siobhan Connor MD of Connor PR pays tribute to Cilla Black,

Gypsies, Come Dancing!

Press Release
Gypsies, Come Dancing!

Forget Got to Dance and Strictly Come Dancing, telly bosses are currently battling it out for the rights to bring an even more sequined dance event to our screens, the World Gypsy Dance Championships! The first and only worldwide contest for dancers from the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community is to be hosted in London later this year. Organisers have already begun the worldwide search for the next Gypsy dance star, and are expecting stiff competition for the coveted gold medal.

Running the contest is Irish Romany Gypsy, Róisín Mullins, a former Irish Dance World Medallist and dancer with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance. Róisín has judged thousands of Gypsy acts, including performing horses, in TV talent shows such as Travellers Got Talent and Gypsy and Traveller Face of the Year, alongside singers David Essex and Jentina. But now Róisín will be encouraging Travellers to swap their twenty stone wedding dresses for flamenco skirts, hitch up their wagons, and hit auditions at Traveller fairs, sites and events throughout the UK.

Róisín Mullins said: “The World Gypsy Dance Championships is a fantastic opportunity for dancers to take centre stage. We have already seen singers from the community make it on TV talent shows, but for me, the dancers represent our culture best”.

Joining Róisín to organise the contest will be her Gypsy partner, Irish dance show producer, Jack Jacobs. The pair are keen to show off a more positive side to the community, at what they hope will be the biggest gathering of gypsy dancers in history. Event organiser Jack is particularly excited about revealing the community’s hidden talent.

Jack Jacobs said: “The contest is a real first for the Gypsy and Traveller community. There are some incredibly talented dancers out there, and traditional dance styles that we, in the UK, have never seen before. So the chance to pull Gypsy dancers together from all over the world to compete against one another will be an amazing site”.

Celebrities rumoured to be taking a seat on the judging panel alongside Róisín include world famous Gypsy dancers, and stars from the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

As well as heavily diamented costumes and fake tan, the contest promises to deliver an all out battle of traditional versus modern, with Flamenco and Irish dancing facing off against hip hop and street dance.

Entrants can compete in any dance style, but must be from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background.

To enter visit www.worldgypsydancechampionships.com

Press Enquiries:
For all media enquiries please contact: siobhan@connopr.com Tel: 07966 177025 or Jack Jacobs at jackjacobs@live.co.uk

Connor PR entertainment PR Specialist, Connor PR working with Gypsies, Come Dancing

Connor PR secures front cover of Independent on Sunday

Connor PR secures front cover of Independent on Sunday for Seeds of Hope

Expose of sexual violence in conflict

TV PR