                  
    Social media: does the good outweigh the bad?
          
You’d be hard-pressed not to have noticed all the hype surrounding the recent EuroMillions win a jackpot of £161million turning a lucky Scottish couple into the biggest lottery winners in Europe and the 418th richest people in the UK and, like many people, it got us in the Cynergy office talking. We discussed the usual – “Where would you go on holiday?”, “ What houses and cars would you buy?” We then we got around to talking about who we would share our good fortune with. The obvious candidates came up, such as family, friends, possibly work colleagues and then we moved on to charities - would we donate? Should we donate? Who would we donate to and how much? Having looked into what lottery winners spend their fortunes on (it seemed to cover everything we discussed), we came across some fascinating research carried out in Europe which suggests that lottery winners revert to their previous levels of happiness within a year of their windfall. However, if the money is spent on improving their health or the wellbeing of their loved ones, it seems that the effects are longer-lasting. This made us think, does having a philosophy of doing good for others bring you happiness? We certainly think so and we like to see ourselves as a charitable bunch here at Cynergy - just take a look at our charity jar and read on further to see what we’ve been doing to raise money as individuals and how this ethos is also carried on through in the work that we do. Whilst we can’t help you win the lottery (unfortunately!) we can help you to secure funding for marketing and development. In the wake of Business Link closures you may wonder where you can get guidance and funding, The Social Investment Business provide business support for the third sector and the Angel Investment Network offers help to all types of organisation.
It’s that time of year again, the kids have finished this academic year and they now have six weeks of holiday to enjoy before they even have to think about picking up a pen or a pencil again. However, for those who have just completed their GCSEs or A-levels, it can be difficult to know what they want to do next. It’s well documented in the news that tuition fees have gone up to as much as £9,000 per year at some universities, meaning that many parents can no longer afford to help their children to gain a degree. With recent statistics stating that as many as 55% of this year’s university leavers will graduate into unemployment or unskilled roles (AAT May 2011), the decision about whether to go on to higher education is made even harder. We've recently been working with Newcastle University on staff engagement, maybe we need to move on to enrolment engagement next! Our recent conversations about apprenticeships with training and skills provider A4e has led us to some interesting findings; 90% of employers said that vocationally qualified staff were vital for their business success and 63% said that skills training would play an important role in the economic recovery. Furthermore, in a survey by City and Guilds, most employers believe that hiring students with vocational qualifications is better than taking on university graduates. In the same breath, we are increasingly hearing from businesses who want to grow, but face various struggles in these challenging times. However, we think all is not lost! We feel this is a perfect opportunity to pair together the two – the impending threat of unemployment for those leaving education together with a business’s need and desire to grow. If you would like to learn more about how engaging apprentices can help grow your business please get in touch. Given that at Cynergy female staff far outweigh male staff, we have thoroughly enjoyed our recent work helping Willow Burn hospice bring their spa products to market.
Willow Burn is committed to improving the quality of life for adults who have a life limiting illness, and now in its 22nd year visionary plans are progressing to enable the hospice to continue to develop services and further enhance delivery quality. As part of these plans, Willow Burn called on Cynergy to partner them in developing spa products as a fundraising opportunity. We teamed up with a manufacturer local to the hospice to create the initial ranges of natural products. These were produced in an environmentally friendly way and use unique scent combinations to harness the power of aromatherapy. Check out the Uplifting range (tea tree & lime) and the Nourishing range (almond) now on sale in the online shop at Willow Burn. The idea is a fantastic extension of the hospice’s culture of care and comfort, and we are excited to undertake the marketing activity we’ve got planned to encourage us women to pamper ourselves, with all profits going to charity. Bliss! If you would like to find out more about these products, please email Fiona. We are pleased to see that the brand we designed for Gateshead Council’s Fostering Team as part of our commitment to CSR has now been implemented and rolled out across the Gateshead and Newcastle area. The Fostering Team are currently trying to recruit over 200 foster carers for children currently in their care and needed a fresh approach. We therefore put our design and illustration skills to good use and developed the brand ‘Drawn to Care?’
As children often express their creativity through drawing we felt that this was an effective way of attracting the public’s attention. The campaign asks people if they could add what the picture represents to the life of a child in care by putting the question to them ‘are you drawn to care?’ We are also working on a social media campaign so if you would like to be kept updated on the fostering teams progress, follow them on Twitter, FosteringNE11. If you feel that you have a worthwhile cause that we could maybe help you with as part of our CSR, then get in touch here. We love working on projects that make a difference - that’s what makes us happy! Cynergy Awarded(10th March 2011)The North East Business Awards are held annually to promote and highlight the achievements of businesses in our region. Cynergy were proud to receive the Corporate Responsibility and Environment award at last nights ceremony. |
