Archive for Charity

Twestival

// March 29th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Charity, General, Twitter, Web 2.0

Oh my… Twestival has been and gone again… this time around it was Twestival Global, and we were raising money for Concern Worldwide.

What’s Twestival? Well, straight from the Twestival site, its something like this:

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects.

In Glasgow, I was the lead organiser, for my sins. We had less time than usual to organise it – 4 weeks to be precise. In that time, we had to find a venue, a headline sponsor, some bands, a compere, a photographer and some raffle and auction items. Oh, and we had to get it all for free. I’m delighted to say that we did, in fact, manage it. We even had time to produce a video beforehand:

We set a target of £2500. I thought that was a VERY adventurous target, considering the timeframe. It turns out I was WAY off. At last count, we raised around £6500! To say I’m astounded is an absolutely understatement. It was such a huge achievement, and I know that Concern can do a whole load with that cash.

Our headline sponsor, iomart Group went nuts on Twestival this year. Not only were they sponsors of the Glasgow Twestival, they also sponsored the London Twestival, and provided a cocktail bar and smoothie bar in Glasgow and London respectively. That wasn’t all though. Phil from iomart attended both events. He kicked off in London, and made a 400 mile trip with a road cone – Glasgow’s unofficial mascot, picking up autographs along the way! Phil Collins did Live Aid, Phil Worms did Twestival. So what’s next? Some sleep. A lot of it:

A huge thanks to everyone who helped pull this event together and make it what it was. The next one will be in August/September, and I’ll be there. Will you?

Democracy in Action

// July 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Charity, Twitter, Web 2.0

tweegies-avatar-smlOne of the great things about the web is that it empowers all sorts of people to go out and make a difference. Sometimes that difference isn’t world-changing, but it’s a difference all the same. We get the chance to air our views, and with the birth of the blog, we have a permanent platform for any issue we wish to shout about.

Today, I’m calling on the readers of my blog to help a charity which is very personal to me: No Strings Attached (Scotland). The reason I’m using my blog to promote this charity is because I’m trying to drum up enough votes to enable them to be appointed as the official charity of the Glasgow Twestival. What’s a Twestival? It’s a Twitter Festival. Basically, there will be an evening of music and fun at a venue in Glasgow city centre which will hopefully raise lots of money, and I’d love for No Strings Attached Scotland to be the recipient of the proceeds. It’s a very worth charity.

No Strings Attached (Scotland) aims to help children and young people with asthma better control their condition through playing wind instruments like the flute, clarinet, etc. It helps increase lung capacity and stamina, and I know from personal experience that it works. They also aim to educate children and young people about their condition, and steps they can take to help themselves.

Please vote for No Strings Attached (Scotland) here, and you can listen to my personal plea on the charity’s website here.