Making healthy connections in Berkshire doesn’t have to be a lottery…

“Oh yes it does…” “Oh, no it doesn’t…” “Oh yes…”

Well it is the Panto season 😉

When Camelot, The National Lottery, was bought out by a Canadian Pension Fund for £389 million in 2010 it pushed a few of my buttons… this was intended to be a lottery fund that helped disadvantaged folk in the UK, not pensioners in Canada! Then, just recently, they doubled the price of a ticket & it pushed a few more… I simply went to 1 line from 2 (fixed numbers & lucky dip to just fixed)… easy short term solution but I need something more meaningful?

I’d seen the adverts for The Health Lottery and initially thought to myself, another bunch just looking to fleece us poor punters and fill their own boots… then I looked a little deeper…

This year, as you may know, I’ve been working for Maps4News.com, looking to get their map solution into one or more of the UK newspapers and through a process of evolution I have established that most are running on empty & are very time poor. They impress advertisers with page view numbers and so appreciate all the ideas they can get to create new pages, while at the same time keeping the pressure off lean production teams.

I’ve been working through the publications, connecting with editors, journalists, graphics, sub-editors… and last week started work on The Express and figured I’d head for the top… Richard Desmond, or better still his boss @CanfieldJoy… Richard owns a bunch of media including The Express, The Star, OK!, Channel 5 and The Health Lottery.

Joining the dots while reading Owen Bennett’s article in The Express Richard Desmond reveals inventing ‘Brand Beckham’ in major Royal Television Society speech where Richard talk’s about his own health problems resulting in a “small” donation to build a new wing of a hospital! How he was grateful for what he has and the sun started to shine… sorry, The Stars began to twinkle 😉

As @rustyrockets might say, “He’s alright that Richard Desmond, especially in his Tutu, mate of Mandella’s you know… all lovely blokes!”

I visited The Health Lottery site and my SEO head has an appreciation for creating separate entities which covered lots of healthy key words to help with their online momentum but what you really need is real people, talking in real time, about how The Health Lottery is helping local charities…

And so I came up with a solution involving his newspapers, magazines & our local maps which could highlight where all these “invisible” good causes are located across the UK… celebrate them to local residence who may dip in their pockets directly, as they ain’t much in to gambling… or they could have a flutter and know 20% is going directly to local good causes and in Berkshire that means that £498,650… that’s like half a million quid has been paid out including:

(I’m not designer, which is obvious but if you like the idea @RichardDesmond & @CanfieldJoy then get your editors to email me jonathan l davey at gmail dot com or fill in the form below and I’ll arrange a free account for each to give it a good spin over the Christmas period and we can review the added value it brings in the New Year… Thank you!)

Youth Sport Trust, Berkshire

Support for sport and education professionals

The Youth Sport Trust is passionate about helping all young people to achieve their full potential – and we also have a range of support available to those working in education and school sport.

Our extensive range of programmes and initiatives; sport and education resources; events and continuing professional development programmes; and of course our school Membership scheme are all created to achieve the best possible outcomes for young people.

Our specialist staff work closely with all schools (primary, secondary and special educational needs) and a range of partners including National Governing Bodies of Sport, our corporate partners and Government, to get even more young people involved in PE and school sport. >>>

United Somali Youth, Slough

United Somali Youth Slough (USYS) is a youth-led organisation run by young people for young people. We work with people of all sorts of Age in Slough and surrounding areas. Our aim is to recognize the needs of young people in Slough to feel more integrated with their local community. USYS exist to boost the self-esteem of young people in Slough and to help them face challenges of under achievement and underprivileged. >>>

The Conservation Volunteers, Berkshire

1950s: Founded in the 50s

The Conservation Volunteers’ roots are established through the creation of the Conservation Corps

1959 Brigadier Armstrong is appointed by Council for Nature to form the Conservation Corps in order to involve volunteers in practical conservation work.

First project held at Box Hill in Surrey. Forty two volunteers, including David Bellamy, clear dogwood to encourage the growth of juniper and the distinctive chalkland flora. >>>

The Ark Trust, Bracknell

The Ark Trust is a charity in Bracknell that aims to enhance the lives of people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and sensory impairment.

The funding will enable The Ark Trust Limited to work with young adults not in employment, education or training and older people on an inter-generational project.

The project will deliver art activities for participants with the aim of sharing skills, knowledge and experience to develop community cohesion and encourage participants to become active citizens and make a positive difference in their local community. >>>

Sustrans, Berkshire

Sustrans is a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day.

Sustrans works with communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people can choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys and enjoy better, safer spaces to live in. All over the UK, we make a positive difference to people’s lives.

We help people think about and change the travel choices they make. Through our work to create better walking and cycling links, including the National Cycle Network, we’re providing the space to make sure sustainable travel is not just a choice: it’s the most obvious and convenient option.

And we have a vision:

By 2020 we want 4 out of 5 local journeys to be made by bike, foot or public transport. That’s double the current figure. It’s a big challenge, but with your help we know we can do it. >>>

Royal Voluntary Service, Berkshire

Through more than 40,000 volunteers Royal Voluntary Service helps support older people all over the country to stay independent at home and active in their community. Combined, our volunteers carry out over three million individual interactions per year. It is that practical little bit of help that makes all the difference – whether at home, getting them to where they want to go, bringing people together through social activities or supporting them in hospital or in an emergency. >>>

Dementia UK, Berkshire

The mission of Dementia UK is to improve quality of life for all people affected by dementia. >>>

Objectives:
Promote and develop Admiral Nursing – a specialist nursing intervention focused on meeting the needs of carers and families of people with dementia

Empower carers to have a voice through Uniting Carers our national network of family carers
Promote good practice in dementia care
Work in partnership with the NHS, social services, other voluntary groups, carers and people with dementia
Contribute to national policy on dementia, older people and carers’ issues
Influence practice and policy development

As you can see, lots of great work going on in Berkshire thanks to those that get involved and a little help from The Heath Lottery.

Perhaps The Health Lottery tickets make for a better purchase this Saturday?

And if you are a newspaper editor looking for more pages… why not use our Maps to highlight great things that are going on in your area…

As mentioned, it would give us Joy to give Richard’s army of editors the opportunity to try our map software to bring to life important stories… we’ll happily give them free usage during December as our Christmas present to you and yours… tweet them this page and they can fill in the form below & I’ll get it sorted… thank you.