Radio Interview

Yesterday afternoon I did a Radio interview with Trent FM after they picked up the calendar story from the Community Newswire. The interview will run in with a news bulletin during the week, so if anyone wants to listen out for it, this is the web address:

http://www.trentfm.co.uk/

And if anyone hears it, please let me know because I won't beable to while I'm sunning myself on a Greek Island for Christmas!

Calendar Update

So far over 1300 calendars have gone either sold/to raise awareness/on a sale or return basis so over half way at the moment. Proceeds are somewhere between £7000 - £8000. Hard to put an exact figure down at the moment with monies being spread all over via on-line payments and cheques to bank, but still on target for that £10,000.

I received a little note from Lorraine Kelly at GMTV this week which I thought was very nice, so I'll put a copy on here. Not all "celeb's" can be-bothered to take the time to send a thank you.



There is also a write up on the Community Newswire today about the calendar, which is another helpful way of promoting it - although I've never had much success through that on-line site before - there is always a first time!

http://www.communitynewswire.press.net/article.jsp?id=3236296


After my holiday I'll look at doing more promoting of the calendar, but sales are still steady and I'll be back to packaging up parcels and sending them out in the New Year.

Happy Christmas to all and Best Wishes for 2008.

Christmas Montage

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The calendar sales have slowed a little so I'm on a quick swoop to try and gather in as much interest as I can over the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure if my target of £10,000 can be achieved, but will do my hardest to make sure the calendar achieves the maximum amount of monies/awareness this year.

So far nearly 1300 calendars have gone and over £6000 in proceeds.

Please keep spreading the word and if you want your calendars before Christmas, please send in your order now.

Calendar Comments

There have been some lovely comments coming in through various of my fundraising selling area avenue's, so I thought I'd put some on the Blog. Not one person has said anything bad about the calendar so I hope everyone is as happy with them as I am.

Through ebay:

"Brilliant" "Fantastic" "Lovely" "Absolutely Fantastic" "Absolutely delighted" "Fabulous"

Through the CF Trust's Forum:

Well what can i say about the Fun Calender apart from wow !!!
My family think its the best one so far, WHY ? Well apart from the whole set up and design it shows these fantastic brave young people and not so young !! having FUN and ENJOYING themselves.
We all know what they go through daily but to look at all of them you would never know.
It puts some kids wocf to shame.

I got my calendars yesterday.... They are brilliant my son rylan thinks he is famous as he is in it... HaHaHa Bless him he is only 4..... Im sure my family members who have bought 1 will love it as much as i do.... Well done you have done a brilliant job


hi, the calendar is fab, its lovely to see such happy faces. liked it so much i bought 20!!
my 4yr old son marshall, also thinks hes famous and cant wait for next november to see his photo displayed!!

Calenders received,a big thanks!
Absolutely fantastic,a true inspiration !

Just got my calendars. As this is the first year we have been able to participate in the calendars I wasnt 100% sure what to expect.

I knew they would be good but they are brilliant. Its lovely to see all those smiling faces and i read somewhere that they put some people wocf to shame and i totally agree with that.

thanks for the calenders, they are really great, and good to see so many kids just being kids, and happy with it.

great job again this year, you really have portrayed a positive side of living with CF.

Just to let you know that I have received my calendars and agree with everyone else that they are really brilliant - The work you must put into them is amazing.

Got my calendars through earlier this week and am absolutely thrilled with them. They look great, all glossy and professional, and are even better quality than last years.

New Slideshow Available to Buy

I have ordered 3 of the Slideshow below for myself and my family and will put the costs below for shipping from America. If anyone wants to buy one, please let me know - the quality is really good and the photo's are clearer than on the calendar. Nice little keepsake - especially for those who have babies and children on the calendar.

$24.99 for the first one
$19.99 each when you buy 2 - 3
$15.99 each when you buy 4 - 9
$9.99 each when you buy 10 or more

Shipping from America is $12.99

I haven't added anything on for profit or gain - it's just something that people might like to buy but I'd have to do it though my Paypal account. I can send out an Invoice to anyone who wants one and the more we sell the cheaper it will be.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

All Orders Gone - Up to Date

All orders have gone now - even one's I received today, so I'm up to date and have sent out via post over 400 calendars this week - my back's telling me so!

I hope everyone is as pleased with them as I am - this year's is a lot more colourful and glossy with less "faff" on.

If you have any comments to add to this Blog, please e-mail me. I'm on the publicising trail next sending some out for promotional purposes to day time TV and some celebrity contacts. I hope to push this one as much as I possibly can in order to achieve the maximum amount of awareness and hopefully reach my target of £10,000.

In order to try and avoid as much ebay fee's as possible, if you are wanting to buy on-line, please e-mail me and I'll send you an Invoice directly. I've mostly put them on ebay to reach out to more people in the CF Community who don't know about the calendar through the CF Trust's Forum.

First Batch Gone!!!

Orders from 1 - 8 left today and am now on to packing bigger orders which will hopefully go tomorrow and Wednesday. I am a one woman packing and despatching machine at the moment!

After all the paid orders have gone I'll be starting on the promotion by sending a few to some well known day time TV programme's and celeb's in order to try and get it as much coverage as possible this year. I've tried before and it doesn't normally generate much interest in the media, but I'll keep trying - if you don't try, you don't get.

If anyone has any contacts in the world of celeb or any good idea's, please e-mail me.

The Calendars have arrived!!!!

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?! Packing calendar orders ready to send out on Monday and Tuesday!!




Hubby fetching in 31 boxes of calendars!





Dan and Joe modelling calendars in the middle of the den Joe's made out of them!!

ONE MORE DAY!!!

Tomorrow the CFun Calendar for 2008 arrive's here - so where do you think I could find space for 2200 calendars then?! 300 are going directly to their destinations via Courier so a total of 2500 to sell this year.
Can't wait to see it all put together and will Blog a picture of the boxes for general inspection tomorrow! I always take a publicity photo of the boy's with them to send to my local newspaper anyway, so will get that done before Joe starts making a den with the boxes! Am so excited - I don't know what I'd do in winter without the calendar to keep me busy!
Please keep spreading the word - I so desparately want to achieve that £10,000 target this year and, together, I know we can do it.

Calendar Arrival!

New delivery date for calendars to arrive with me now - Friday 18th November! Managed to get them a day earlier being sent overnight on 17th. On Friday myself and my good friend, Sue, will be packing calendars like women with no arms - with a bottle of wine and a Voddie thrown in for good measure! Orders are coming in slowly still, but nearly a quarter already accounted for with orders payed for and orders for CF Events! I'm pushing them as much as I can personally and hope that together, we can achieve that £10,000 target. Watch this space........ I'll keep updating when I can.

Expected Delivery and Postal Prices

Have been told that the calendars will be ready for overnight delivery on Friday 16th November. Sadly, that doesn't give me time to get them out to a couple of people who wanted them sooner. Unfortunately, I can't satisfy everyone, but I do try my best! Alternatives for CF Events will be to take a few of the Posters and Orders Forms to generate some interest. I'd have liked them a bit earlier and might see if that is possible - one can but ask!

I took 30 of last year's calendars to the Post Office this week to get denominations weighed for people who want bigger orders. I know last year's had one extra page in, but I don't think that's going to make much difference. Here are the price's for anyone looking for a bigger order:

30 = £11.50
25 = £9.50
20 = £9.50
15 = £8.50
10 = £8.50

Orders any bigger than that I can look into when they are requested.

Sold just over 100 so far with more orders promised.

Why do I do it?

Someone asked me yesterday how I found the time to do the calendar and other fundraising events I partake in. Got me thinking really so I thought I'd put a little blurb on here about my thoughts on why:

I don't know where I find the time to do what I do, but I do! I get more satisfaction out of doing the charity work than I do anything else - the ironing pile will tell you many stories! It gives me something to keep me focused and I do enjoy doing the calendar (despite the difficulties which arose this year in the beginning) - I just love the comments it generates. Can't beat making people happy and the children love seeing themselves on something they can show off - it also makes them realise that they aren't on their own - it's something they can do together - to be together - without being treated differently. CF is a hateful and dreadful disease. People with Cystic Fibrosis are not able to meet due to fear of cross-infection, so bringing together 111 people with Cystic Fibrosis in one place on one calendar just show's little people with CF they are not on their own.

The calendar always generates lovely comments and I think I'll start putting some on this Blog this year if people don't mind. I won't put full names, just "Mrs B" or "Mr A".

Please keep spreading the word about CFun and if anyone would like to help with the publicity side, I have a press release here prepared by Gemma Foy, Publicity Officer from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

CFun on ebay

The CFun calendar is now on ebay for anyone who would like to buy them on-line. It also allows me to reach out to more people in the CF Community as it is national.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130171271807&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003

New Slideshow of Calendar's Final 111 People

All babies, children and young adults featured on this calendar have Cystic Fibrosis. If the picture show's 2 people on the same photograph, it means they both have Cystic Fibrosis. We have 111 people on this year.


Cystic Fibrosis Trust Calendar 2008

A Proof at Last!

Yay - at last, a proof! All looks fantastic in the "flesh" so to speak! Am so excited now that I've seen it in true colour - off to sign each page off now so I can catch tonights post, but will send it Recorded Delivery in the hope that it will get back to the printers tomorrow so they can start the ball rolling on printing out 2000. Orders are coming in slowly, but I've a list of people wanting prices for postage for large orders and some wanting them for CF Events.

Here's a picture of Joe modelling said proof under duress!

Calendar Update

There have been some hold ups with the printer with regards layout and difficulty in opening some files so the designer has re-sent them. Apparently they are "nearly there now" with regards completed proof so I'll be rugby tackling the Postman to the ground this week to quickly proof check, sign off and return the draft to the printer rapido! It's all gone a bit slow with regards orders - very few in so far, but hopefully they will pick up once I've taken delivery as I'll be shoving them down everyone's throat left, right and centre until the end of December!

The Poster is ready on the boys website for people to download, print off and stick in Post Office windows, School's, CF Centres and anywhere else you think they will attract attention and gain sales.

I've taken the on-line payment system off the Order page as I am aware that Paypal do take a % and I couldn't work out how to set it up anyway! However, once I take delivery of the calendars I'll be putting some on ebay, but upping the price slightly to cover ebay charges, if people would prefer to pay that way.

The CF Calendar 2008

Below is the complete CF Calendar for 2008 as it will be on completion for perusal. The designer is putting it all on to disc to send to the Printer tomorrow and I'll be waiting a proof copy in anticipation! Once that's signed and approved then we can get the ball rolling to print 2000 copies and then the selling begins! Fingers crossed for a rapid turn around on printing and then I can start publicising them more as I know we only have 2 clear months of calendar selling at full price ahead.
I hope you are all as happy with the final version as I am and thank you to all those who sent me pictures and an extra special thank you to Prospect Distributors in London for sponsoring the calendar and also for their generosity in providing bubble wrap, brown packing paper and a slight over ordering of 36 rolls of packing tape which will come in rather useful for the bondage sessions!! ;-)

CF Calendar 2008 - Order Form

The Order Form is now set up on the boys website for anyone wanting to get orders in now via post. However, the on line ordering system isn't set up properly yet as I don't have the link to Paypal created on my new e-mail address yet. That's hopefully something that will be done within the next couple of days, but you can still request an Invoice and I'll keep it pending until I can send one.
The Poster should be on there within the next couple of days aswell and I'd be grateful if people could pass them round and stick them where they'll get seen.
I have a press release waiting to be sent to anyone who would like to help publicise the calendar with their local newspaper, thanks to Gemma Foy, and I'll put a separate topic up within the next few weeks once people start receiving their calendars.
Calendar should hopefully be ready within 2 - 3 weeks so that gives people time to suss out how many they need.
Bear with me initially though as last year I had orders for over 500 before I'd even received them - gives me a good idea of how many we are going to sell.
I hope you will all be as pleased with the final version - this year's is different yet again with excellent content and attracting colour.
Thank you all for your help and support - together we will make a difference.

www.thebarnesboys.org.uk


I'll try and keep people updated weekly on how sales are going on this Blog - my target still remains at £10,000 proceeds and I'd be delighted to achieve that this year. If we sell the initial 2000 calendars to be printed we'll well exceed that. Now the hard work begins on publicising it.

Final Cover Proof

February Proof - First Draft

Printing

All is speeding up now towards us having a calendar to sell - very exciting! We have reached the designer's layout target of 108 pictures - 9 per page. Today I've received a draft copy of February to pick the background colours and it's looking great - might Blog that later, but be aware it's not the final version, just a sample for now.
Once the calendar is finished the Poster and Order Form will be on the boys website to download and we can start taking orders.
Last year I had orders for over 500 before I'd even received them so you won't be surprised to learn I was rushed off my feet for the first week or two trying to get them out to people. Don't panic if you feel your calendar is a bit slow on delivery if you send in an order before they are ready - I'll be doing my utmost to make sure they are all out within 2 weeks of receipt of them. I'll be a one woman packing machine again!!
Dragging the slideshow to the top again to show you all the final pictures:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Cover Proof

First draft cover proof has arrived. There are a few pictures missing to be added and about 4 new one's also, but we're nearly there!!!

Cover Proof

The cover proof will be ready today and once it's been approved I'll put a copy on here for everyone to see. Hopefully the Poster will be done at the same time so I'll also add links and hope that maybe people who have contributed a picture will put some posters up locally to generate more sales for us. It's getting to the exciting stage now!!

Another Update

The calendar design is almost complete now. The designer is working on the cover and the wording and, fingers crossed, we should be ready to send the final version to print within the next week or so. Don't want to delay it much longer as it can take 2 - 3 weeks to print and get them to me and we'll be into November. The Order Form and Poster should be ready once the calendar is ready so people can start ordering and helping me to promote them. I'll try and get an on-line link created aswell and would be really grateful for any help in promoting them.
Am keeping my fingers and everything else crossed that this year we can achieve the £10,000 target I've been after - you have to have some sort of a goal!!
We have 104 pictures at the moment and have space for just 4 more with the design created so it's not too late to add a photo if you are quick!
Thank you all for your help this year and I'm so sorry it all turned a bit confusing - sometimes I wonder why I do it and then I look at my son's and I learn of another life lost to CF and I remember why - the hassle is only temporary - life is far more precious.

Designing Underway

The design of the calendar is now underway and we've hit my target of 100 pictures. Any extra from here are a bonus - but really I'd like to hit last year's total of 120 - giving us 10 pictures per page. We won't be having a Dedication Page this year and that's not down to any particular reason other than I had no photo's for it and no-one broached the subject this year.
I really enjoy the design stage as I get to see pages before everyone else and it always looks very well presented. This year we are going to try and add some colours to the design to fit in with the "fun" topic. I don't think there will be any adverts on this year depicting CF fundraising ventures as there isn't time to put these together now - also I think it would be nicer to have a bigger calendar space and they took up that room last year.
Hopefully I'll have something to look at when I get back from holiday and will put another update then.

Cystic Fibrosis Calendar 2008 Book

This is the link to a book you can have as well as a calendar - have been fiddling again! You can also turn the montage in to a DVD - as below. I might look into the cost's of these once the Calendar is finished. Possibly another way to make a profit for the CF Trust.




Cystic Fibrosis Trust Calendar 2008

New Montage

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Calendar Update

Another update on this year's Calendar for those looking for information and I have directed everyone to this Blog who has contributed pictures so I hope I don't confuse anyone - I'm confused enough myself at the moment!! I can't send individual e-mails to you all and I can't remember 100% who did, so I hope you all read this Blog when you can.

Sadly, Chris's family were not coping too well with the idea of setting up a Trust Fund in his memory - was causing them too much pain and upset, which is obviously quite understandable, so that idea has been scrapped totally now. However, I still personally have plan's to carry out this idea in the New Year on my own - once Joe starts full time school in January.

Sooooo, this year's calendar is on hold yet again until we decide on the best way forward. I can honestly say that I just feel like dropping the whole idea, but can't let down over 100 people who have contributed. I hope you'll all bear with me and will update again in a couple of weeks. We are off to Disneyland Paris on Monday until Friday - a much NEEDED break. Stay happy and stay well. xxx