Andrea Wren: Journalist

Win some super prizes on 15th Jan!

The snow is melting and with all the fantastic prizes on offer at the charity event I've been helping organise, Desperately Seeking Alex on Friday 15th, there is an even bigger reason to get yourself to the greenroom.

Of course, that is as well as the fact that money raised will help continue the search for missing Alex Humphrey - the most important thing of it all.

Just a few of the prizes up for grabs through raffle or auction on Friday include:

1 night B&B stay at The Lowry Hotel

3 x bottles of champagne donated by Atherton Thind Chartered Financial Planners

2 x pairs tickets for performances at Band on the Wall

3 course meal for two at Cafe Rouge, including bottle of wine, donated by Lowry Outlet Mall

Fabulous Chocolate Hamper donated by The Chocolate Cafe

A meal for two at Sweet Mandarin, Manchester

Gorgeous artwork from local artists

1 year membership to The Poetry Society plus selection of Poetry Reviews

Night out at greenroom, including bottle of wine

Tickets to a Burlesque Dancing performance at Voodoo Lounge, Manchester, donated by Slippery Belle

Lonely Planet's Guide to Travel Photography (and more)

Nairn's Oatcake Hamper, donated by Nairn's

Complimentary meal for 2 people plus a bottle of wine at G Casino Manchester

...and so much more!

But you have to be in to win - so we'll see you there!

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday.

Desperately Seeking Alex: Be there on 15th Jan

Local Stockport man Alex Humphrey, aged 29, went missing on 14^th August 2009 while on a 3 week holiday in Panama. Despite numerous searches, police involvement and a Panamanian media campaign, there has been no trace of Alex since.

Friends and family desperate to find out what has happened to Alex have rallied together to organise 'Desperately Seeking Alex' - a poetry, music and arts event to raise funds and awareness for Alex's case.

Manchester's greenroom, on Whitworth Street, is set to host the event, which will take place on 15^th January 2010 from 7.00pm. I have been part of the organising committee for this event.

We came up with the idea since Alex is a keen poet, as well as classical music enthusiast. In addition to scheduled and open mic performances from some of the region's best poets and amateur poets, there will be performances from classical and modern musicians, burlesque dancers, and fabulous raffle and auction prizes to be won - including an auction prize for 1 night B&B at Manchester's Lowry Hotel.

Bringing awareness to Alex's plight is central to the event, while money raised will be used to help fund the cost of continuing the search for Alex, and donated to Panamanian children's charity Hogar Trisker (as a thank you for the help of the Panamanian authorities in the search for Alex). Some will also be given to Ewing School, the special needs school in Didsbury that Alex worked at.

Currently, the top auction prize to bid for at the Desperately Seeking Alex event is, as mentioned, a 1 night stay on a B&B basis at Manchester's 5 star The Lowry Hotel, while raffle prizes include nights out at Band on The Wall, Lonely Planet gift books, a meal at Sweet Mandarin in Manchester, a night out with wine at greenroom, and many others.

With more awareness to the situation of missing Alex Humphrey and more funds to help the search, there is hope the family can find some much-needed news to alleviate their anguish. As Alex's mum, Gill Humphrey, says, “The worst case scenario is never knowing what happened to Alex.”

Desperately Seeking Alex: Doors open 7.00pm until late, with a 7.45pm start time, and a DJ/disco after performances have ended. Door entry is £3 waged / £2 unwaged. Free vegan cakes will be available on the night!

See the Facebook group 'DESPERATELY SEEKING ALEX' for further details, email desperatelyseekingalex@googlemail.com, and also see www.alex-humphrey.co.uk

Can you help?

Organisers of the event are appealing to local people, businesses, and shops for kind donations towards the raffle or auction prizes, to make this event really big and raise as much cash as possible to such a worthy cause. As well, they are appealing for a sponsor to the event.

If you would like to donate or are interested in sponsoring Desperately Seeking Alex, please contact press officer for the event, Andrea Wren: desperatelyseekingalex@googlemail.com

Alex Humphrey is missing: Guardian article

Alex Humphrey, a very good friend of someone close to me, went missing in Panama 7 weeks ago and since then, there has been no trace of him.

Alex was due to fly back to his Manchester home and job on 29th August, but was last seen on the 14th August, leaving Hostal Vearon in Boquete, in Chiriqui province, where he was apparently heading out to see the Balneario Majagua waterfall.

It's a very scary situation and everyone who knows Alex is desperate to know what has happened. I know Alex personally, and as a journalist I wanted to help get some coverage to alert people in the UK to the situation. I have written an article for today's Guardian about Alex, after talking to his mum Gill earlier this week.

The article is focused on Gill's journey out to Panama where she headed last Wednesday - hopefully with some news of Alex when she returns next week, and I very much hope the article will help bring forward any news of Alex.

If you have any information that might help in the search for Alex Humphrey, email aghumph@yahoo.co.uk or telephone Greater Manchester Police on 0161-872 5050

There is a Facebook group called Find Alex Humphrey, plus the Alex Humphrey website.

Please vote for me as Face of Travel 2009!

Will you vote for me as the Face of Travel 2009?

I would really love the opportunity to accelerate my travel agency business by achieving this award - and all you have to do is enter your email - it's as easy as that (and it won't be stored)!

http://www.faceoftravel.co.uk/entries/me.php?id=136

It's a case of most votes gets you to the finals, so I'd love it if you could simply take the time to enter your email for a casting vote!

Even better, if you could also use the links on the page to tweet about me, and add me to your Facebook profile - I would appreciate it SO MUCH!

Thanks!

Cultural connections in Manchester with new listings site

As Manchester is my home town and I'd like people to experience the best of it, I just thought I'd point out a new culture and arts listings site set up by a guy called Stu, who felt that the city needed something that pulled this kind of information together.

It's not a business, just a network, so it's free to register and be involved with - Stu told me he just wanted to highlight how much stuff connected with the arts is going on in Manchester pretty much every day of the week, and he also said he wanted to give people a chance to meet up with others doing the same thing.

Anyhow, if you're interested finding out more (it's especially worthwhile for arty newbies to the city), 'Culture Club' can be found here: http://bee-manc.wikispot.org/