Andrea Wren: Journalist

Oldham Twestival 2011 - book tickets for Thursday 24th March

Twestival is a single day, global movement which uses the power of social media to organize offline events that mobilize communities in support of local charities. On Thursday 24 March 2011, 150+ towns and cities all over the world are holding a charity event under the 'Twestival' banner, and locally to me, Oldham sees its first ever event in support of Oldham Mountain Rescue.

Oldham Twestival After Dark is taking place at Boundary Park's Corner Flag Suite, overlooking the famous Latics ground. Tickets are £10 and all of that goes to the local charity.

Upon arrival you will get a goody bag containing donated items from local businesses, plus a pen, which you will need to complete your Twiz sheet, as there will be a Twiz (quiz). Dominos pizza will be delivering some pizzas during the evening and Oldham Athletics warm-up guy, Broady, will be compering.

You will get to see first hand the work of Oldham Mountain Rescue when some of the team arrive with one or two rescue dogs. There will also be a raffle during the evening with a range of  fabulous prizes donated by local businesses. At some point, the organisers will be attempting a link up with other Twestival cities for live streaming.

When the screen is not showing the excellent work that Oldham Mountain Rescue do, or hosting the Twiz questions, it will be a Twitter wall so mass tweeting will be encouraged. The evening will also see the culmination of an online auction.

CLICK HERE to book tickets. If you have any problems using the online system or want more information, please contact: deborah@owl-marketing.co.uk

Twestival is run by volunteers and 100% of monies go to the nominated charity.

 

Authors for Japan raised almost £11,000 in one week!

A big congratulations to Keris Stainton and all the other people involved with Authors for Japan, who have raised almost £11,000 in just one week to assist the British Red Cross in their relief measures for the people of Japan.

It's an amazing achievement, and Keris worked wonders pulling this together in such a short space of time with the help of others. I was stunned to see the grand total of £10,962.25 when I checked in on the site this morning knowing that the auction had closed yesterday.

Well done!

 

Authors for Japan: Helping the people devastated by the earthquake in Japan

Been meaning to post about this all week, but I've been ill, and better late than never. A fabulous inititiative has been launched by a lovely writer I know called Keris Stainton, in a bid to raise money for the terrible circumstances facing Japan right now.

More than 150 acclaimed authors have donated auction lots to Authors for Japan - an online sale which will hopefully raise considerable funds to send to Japan for its relief efforts.
 
Exclusive offers at http://authorsforjapan.wordpress.com include the chance to have a character named after you by novelist and Red magazine editor, Sam Baker, a dedication at the front of Jill Mansell's latest book and a signed pre-release copy of Jenny Colgan’s next novel.
 
Katie Fforde, JoJo Moyes, Adele Parks, Dorothy Koomson, Andrew Crofts and Caroline Smailes are also among best selling writers to have donated ‘money can’t buy’ items to the auction which is open until Sunday, March 20.
 
There’s also an opportunity to meet literary agent turned successful author Alison Bond for advice to ensure a draft novel is in your hands within a year.
 
More goodies featured include anthologies about Glee and Torchwood, £200 worth of children’s books from Hachette and a signed set of Skate School Stories by Kate Woodward.  Services donated include analysis and critiques of book proposals, cover designs, website set-up, social media expertise and more than 150 signed books. There are books on health including skin cancer and epilepsy, signed by authors Rachel Newcombe and Louise Bolotin respectively.

For aspiring freelance journalists, trainer and agency director Linda Jones has donated places on training workshops, mentoring and a non fiction book proposal critique.
 
She is joined in a Kick start your freelance writing career workshop by leading UK freelance and former magazine editor Karen Pasquali Jones, while coach Eve Menezes Cunningham offers an hour’s mentoring for journalists by phone and US journalist and writer Lisa Clark offers six months of mentoring via email or Skype.
 
Organiser Keris Stainton is a Young Adult author and freelance journalist and was inspired by the success of a recent Authors for Queensland auction which raised around $20,000. She has donated a package of advice including a manuscript critique and mentoring.
 
The number of lots available for auction are expanding daily: to browse, bid and donate, please visit:
 
http://authorsforjapan.wordpress.com