From a Gift Of Life to a Gift After Life

In my last entry I talked about organ donation and the gift of life that it may bring. I’d like you to think about another sort of gift that you can make upon your death.


It's a common myth that only the rich and famous leave money to charity when they die. This couldn't be any further from the truth. The reality is without the gifts left in wills many of the charities we know and support today wouldn't even exist. With the challenges facing us all in this difficult economic climate I think that legacies are going to become even more important to charities.

I’m always delighted by the generosity of our community, with 74% of the UK population supporting charities. When asked, 35% of people say they'd happily leave a gift in their will once family and friends had been provided for. The problem is only 7% actually do.

That's why, if we all leave some money in our wills for charity as well as our family, we can make a huge difference. In fact, if we can raise this figure to just 11% we would create an additional £1 billion for charities in the UK every year, which would ensure that their work lives on.

Legacies are the foundation for many of the charities in the UK. Some of the larger charities receive a third of their income this way. For the smaller charities it can be vital in making sure that all the good work they do can continue.

So, you don't have to be rich and famous to make a contribution that can make a difference. We can all do something amazing for the world just by leaving a gift in our wills to charity.

Organ Donation - A gift of life

Earlier this year I agreed to become the Non-Clinical Chairman for the Organ Donor Committee here in Southampton. I was appalled that currently only 28% of us are on the register, whilst 96% of us would take an organ if we needed one. The UK has one of the lowest rates of organ donation in Western Europe at 13 donors per million, whilst Spain has 35 donors per million.

Did you know that there are 23 organs in your body, provided your human. You can donate kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and small bowel. You can also donate corneas, skin, bone, tendons, cartilage and heart valves. I was also amazed that the simple act of registering could mean that I could help up to nine different people.

Many of us have an organ donor card from when we passed our driving test but simply carrying it does not mean you are on the register, you need to sign up to the online database. Anyone can register on the Organ Donor Register. Age isn't a barrier to being an organ / tissue donor, and most medical conditions don't stop you donating either.

This week has been designated “National Transplant Week”. I’m not looking for actual organs, no kidneys in a soggy envelope please! It is in fact for more than 10,000 people in the UK deadly serious as they are in need of a transplant. Of these, 1,000 each year ( that's three a day ) will die waiting as there are not enough organs available.

Most of us are guilty of putting off important conversations with a loved one, so why not spend some valuable time with family and friends during National Transplant Week to have a Heart to Heart.

It might be telling someone how important they are to you, reconnecting with an old friend or apologising to a partner, but have you thought about telling your loved ones what your wishes are about organ donation?

Take time this week to have one of the most important Heart to Hearts you can have and help spread your gift of life. If you need any more persuading watch the second or third video on the NHS Organ Donation website.

The End of the Walk - Where Next?

I have completed my walk along the South Downs Way and really enjoyed all of the 200,550 steps. With the tops and tails of each day I actually covered 120 miles. The last day took me over the Seven Sisters, I’m sure there where eight, no sooner had you climbed to the top of one than you had a steep decent to the base of the next one. Although it was blisteringly hot the view was fantastic and it made for a spectacular finish to the walk. Domino did really well with her thick black coat and very little shade.

Once we climbed down into Eastbourne we had to walk another mile and a half to the party and certificate ceremony. It was lovely sitting down in the cool with a shandy and a few doggy biscuits.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported my walk. If you'd like to contribute please visit my Just Giving link or click on the blue wigget.

Almost there!

This my penultimate day is the longest day, just what you need after 80 miles! The day before yesterday was a Devil of a day, more from mythology than the toughness of the walk. I started just west of Chanctonbury Ring. A hill fort that has also been a Roman temple. Legend has it that if you walk backwards around the ring seven time you can summon the devil or is it scare him off. Whichever it is I would not recommend trying, particularly if you have to walk all the way to Devil’s Dyke. The story goes that as Christianity was spreading across Sussex the Devil decided one night to dig a giant trench down to the sea to keep the Christians back. He made such a noise that an old woman lit a candle to see what was going on. The farm cockerel thought it was the coming dawn and started crowing. The Devil was so startled by the early arrival of the sun that he took off hurling pieces of earth everywhere, one landing in the sea and forming the Isle of Wight.


The weather has been glorious in the low to mid 20’s, affording me some wonderful views. Both Domino and I have been finding it hot work but yesterday she cooled off in a dew pond. If it had not been so smelly I might have joined her.

Yesterday from the Dyke I walked to the delightful village of Pyecombe where the church had tea and rock cakes waiting. The gate of the church has a central hinge so that coffins can easily be carried in! I then walked on past the twin windmills called Jack and Jill before climbing to Ditchling Beacon.

Today the white cliffs and the coast will be clearly visible as I make my way down into the Ouse valley. That means I’m going to have to climb out of it!

A relaxed Fathers Day!

I started walking the South Downs Way, with Domino my Cocker Spaniel, from Winchester to Eastbourne on Friday. The 105 mile walk is in aid of my charity Wessex Heartbeat and specifically for Heartbeat House. The house provides a conformable and supportive home right next door to the Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital for the relatives of people being treated for heart conditions. The reason for choosing this particular part of our services is due to a conversation I had with a guest only a couple of weeks ago. She told me that they live on the Isle of Wight and that without Heartbeat House she could not be with her husband as they could not afford the daily ferry crossings. I don’t thing I need to say anything more.

The first day from King Alfred’s statue in the heart of the capital of Wessex, very symbolic for Wessex Heartbeat, to Exton was about 13 miles and went through some stunning scenery and iconic hamlets. For this first leg I was accompanied by a cohort of staff from Domino’s Pizza. My dog is called Domino as she is black with one white spot and Domino’s Pizza are sponsoring her! It was a glorious start to the walk with two excellent pubs on route. I don’t think I can expect that from now on.

Yesterday I was not able to walk as Wessex Heartbeat had its first Dragon Boat Race day on Southampton Water. What a great event, lots of fun. I was impressed with the speed of some of the boats and the great team names such as Skipper Heartbeat and Dragon Hearts. Unfortunately for Domino’s paws and my feet we have to make up the distance today, walking from Exton climbing Old Winchester Hill, HMS Mercury and over to Buster Hill. I then need to sneak through the border guards in to West Sussex and home ground. I think that from there I will climb onto the Ridge Way and over Harting Down. By then I should have cover around 18 miles and have Beacon Hill looming up in front of me. If I make it alright I can have a little rest with the ancient dead on the Devils Jump before the final sprint to the Cocking Gap. All in all I’ll have to cover about 25 miles and my feet feel sore in anticipation!

If you’d like to help my fundraising efforts, I promise that there will not be any photos of blistered feet at the end, please visit my site www.justgiving.com/dcfmyers

Brand Bible

I’m working on a brand development handbook for a friend and would value comments and suggestions on the following guidelines.

A corporate identity manual should:
a) be easily printable and easily referred to,
b) be easily accessible ( format: Make your guide available as PDF, Put the guide on your intranet , Create templates of all your elements so people can easily work with them and stay on-brand ),
c) use very simple language - and at least in 2 languages ( one in a major language of the country plus vernacular languages ). e.g. In Canada it will be in English & French. In the Middle East, English & Arabic. In Pakistan, English and Urdu and so on and so forth,
d) use lots of "Dos & Don'ts" to lucidly depict the logo type, colour scheme, size, height etc,
e) display options in colour & if in black & white,
f) portray all possible avenues of branding.

A corporate identity manual should contain:
a) Corporate introduction: include your brand values, philosophy, proposition with a little history about your brand, its roots, founders etc. It gives the creatives a little more meat to chew on and they love a good story!
b) Brand basics ( communication platform/attributes, writing style, design attributes ),
c) Kit of parts ( corporate logo, font samples, colour palette / Pantone , photography, icons and other graphics elements, headline usage, page layouts, paper specs ),
d) Templates (presentations, packaging, marketing literature, merchandising),
e) Promotional items (banners, trade show booth design elements, packaging/info-binders),
f) Direct Mail guidelines,
g) Advertising (print) guidelines,
h) Electronic brand elements (web site layout guidelines, GIF banner guidelines, e-mail templates and guidelines),
i) Co-branding guidelines,
j) International considerations ( guidelines for local photography, font usage ):
 - Paper specifications are not the same worldwide. Make sure to leave room for local paper specifications ( material, format, etc. )
- Font usage ( Japanese/Chinese/Hebrew/Cyrillic fonts do not always exist, depending on your font choice )
- Photographic material ( think about racial effects, cultural dependencies )

Notes
1. Explain the importance of using the brand guidelines consistently and why they need to be used across all markets and what this contributes to the brand. Maybe include, how much re-branding has cost to the company and why EVERYONE needs to ensure the correct formats, identity, logo, colour etc are used.

2. Use a binder that you can add inserts to and that are easy to print and do not incur unnecessary costs by being 'creative' - an A4 size will do and is a pretty universal format.

3. On your CD/DVD make sure your interface is simple and easy to use with a hyperlink to get updates from your website/intranet. Include commercials or well known campaigns.

4. Clearly illustrate the different versions of your identity - e.g. colour, greyscale and outline versions and specify colour usages.

5. This also applies to your product & brand typeface usage but can be applied to pictorial usage and any other elements you use as a standard across your brand. Also allow for some interpretation of elements for International markets for flexibility.

6. Show relationship sizing of your identity & products regarding its placement within collateral material with samples of use in e.g. a full colour ad, bw ad, billboard, poster treatment, email campaigns etc.

7. Specify media usage with clear examples using the identity, colours, sizing and proportion.

8. Also show, how your brand CANNOT be used. Give examples of wrong use of identity, colour etc and product usage. This refers to brand identity mutilation and distortion, inappropriate or offensive imagery or association (becomes more important internationally) This saves a lot of headaches and annoying questions.

9. Specify photo usage and how they can be used with your chosen media. Include examples as mentioned. You need feedback from your International markets regarding photo 'sensitivities' e.g. sexual references but this will be clarified in your brand values, philosophy and proposition earlier.

Marketing Mentor

A colleague has asked me to pose a question to businesses large and small.....

Do you know what role a mentor fulfils? Specifically would you consider using a marketing mentor to improve your organisational and personal business performance? Perhaps an expert who would come in each month to work with the MD/Chief Exec to progress strategic plans or perhaps work with an inexperienced marketing team to get them working more effectively?

Would their membership of the Chartered Institute of Marketing be important to you? Do you understand what membership means?

Any thoughts would be welcome including the price you would pay for such a service?