Donate your used bra!

I was amazed to hear the 'bra bank' collected 18,000 used bra's!  Unfortunately the campaign has closed for this year now, but it will be going ahead in 2012 and I'm definately going to be donating my old bra's. I'm sure you have a few loitering around at the bottom of your underwear drawer too!

The Bra's have now been sent remote villages like Kenya and Zimbabwe. The ladies in need now have physical support that is needed to work on their land and look after their children. Something small to us is something big to them.

If you would like to donate in 2012 please read Bra Bank to find out more!

The Notting Hill Carnival Experience

I had never been to the Notting Hill Carnival but after hearing so much about it, this bank holiday I chose to go to Europe's biggest street festival. What a brilliant day out!

(Little bit of knowledge for you- The Notting Hill carnival was founded in 1964 when there was a clash between the whites and newly arrived immigrants from the West Indies)...

I met up with some friends at Notting gate tube station, stopped at a local shop to buy some beers, and headed towards the crowds with our Jamaican whistles! It was so busy and I didn't know what to expect, but everyone around me was smiling so that was all that mattered.

As we walked down, looking at all different types of people in vibrant colourful costumes, we reached a street where you could watch the static sound systems and floats pass through with dancers following. We were dancing on the side of the roads and it really was a great atmosphere.

Everywhere we went I saw police. Their were 6,500 officers for the 2 day event and they were doing a great job in patrolling West London, as well as taking the time to speak to people and take photos with people. I even thanked a few for their hard work during the riots (I think the cider definitely kicked in at this point!)

As the day progressed you could tell that the alcohol was starting to kick in most people, and the dancing got a bit more rowdier, so we headed towards a pub called the 'Grand Nation', where I met a lovely girl and her boyfriend! It is an experience I would definitely recommend and I would love to go again next year :)

The kind hearted man who got me home safely...

When I said bye to my friend at Stockwell in South London, I took the victoria line to Euston and I was dreading the next stage of my journey. A 1 hour train from Euston to Milton Keynes.

I am always being spontaneous and going to visit my friends in their home towns- but mainly London. I love the city buzz, the thrill of going to bigger and better places and the atmosphere the different people give it.

Anyway I finally got to Euston for what felt like the longest tube journey of my life. Probably due to lack of sleep, hungerness, and my hangover from the almighty Notting Hill carnival! I walked up to the gates when I inserted my train ticket to the sound of beeping and the red sign 'please seek assistance'. Great...something to delay me even longer.

'Sorry Madam this ticket is only valid until 28th. It is the 29th today.' So despite getting really drunk at the carnival, having a spinning room and being so dehydrated that I chose to stay at my friends house, I also lost out on a return journey. Back to the ticket machine I go to purchase another ticket when my card read 'declined'. I had no money to get home.

Instantly I felt sick. I wanted to cry. To make matters worse my phone battery had died. I looked around and the spur of the moment lead me to the nearest man. He was resting on the side with earphones looking at his phone. I approached him with a panic ora to me and his words were 'don't worry, you don't need to cry'. He rummaged through his pockets to find he could not gather a pound from his loose shracknell. He then offered me to go to the ticket machine whilst he could put it on his card. Hello? How shocked am I! The first person I approached and he has paid for my train journey home.

I gratefully hugged him and thanked him so much. He said to me 'See London is not a bad place after all' and it got me thinking the whole journey home.

When someone needs your help give it to them because you never know when you will need it back. Karma- What goes around comes right back around. He didn't need to help me or pay £13.00 for a stranger to get home but he did that from his own goodwill and we need more people like that in this world.

Even Joan Collins has released a book called 'The world' where she unleashes her rage at the state of Britain. She states 'There are so many aspects of British life today that depress me: the decline in manners, the proliferation of badly dressed people, our obesity crisis, the lack of respect shown to our older citizens and the menacing yob culture that seems to rule our society, as evidenced by the recent terrifying riots, arson and looting'.

Which yes- I suppose all of this is true and young citizens like myself do disregard the contributions made by our senior citizens who fought facism during the war- not because they were forced too, because they wanted too. My mum once said to me 'Your great Grandad would turn in his grave if he saw what was going on.' I understand my mothers point of view, but what the older citizen need to take into account is that those who critize our generation forget who raised it. 

Besides the statements I regularly hear on Britain, I choose to have my own outlook, which not alot of people seem to have. In my eyes a lot of people are sheep and they are peer pressured into what other people believe. I keep my friends close and my enemies closer. I would rather know people from this 'menacing yob culture' and be on good terms with them than fight against them and potentially be at risk of getting stabbed, shot or even killed. 

I don't want to turn into the majority of people living in Britain. I don't want this to be my regular topic of discussion, I am fed up of hearing people rant about the situation. I am a positive person, I am happy and I enjoy my life. I am not going to judge people on the colour of their skin, the music they are into, the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the people they are friends with nor the hobbies they are into. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. 

If we stop judging people by the way they look and instinctively believe they are good people then life will show you a good time. I am polite and friendly to almost everyone, that when I was at Euston scared and frightened, a young black man helped me. I know some people that wouldn't have even dared to talk to him, but it just goes to show if you are a kind person, people will be kind back. No one are born criminals it is the people they come across in life that make them that way.

Thank you to the kind hearted man who got me home safely at the end of my bank holiday madness! 

What suitable PR activities are Nurofen Plus carrying out after their latest product recall?

Nurofen Plus have recalled all of their remaining stock because some packs contained 'sabotage', an antipsychotic drug. The packs that contained this drug were brought from South London and another packet containing epilepsy drugs were brought from Northern Ireland. Thousands of packets have said to have been affected.

How did this drug get into the packets of Nurofen Plus? The firm claim to be working with police to find those responsible and the medical director has said 'to be taking the matter extremely seriously' but the brand Nurofen are going to have to use more PR activities than this to strengthen their relationship with their customers. Personally it has made me not want to purchase Nurofen anymore, let alone any other tablets.

The drugs found in the packets have a black and gold packaging whereas Nurofen have black and silver packaging. I am sure people wouldn't notice this, especially if they do not take tablets regularly. Meanwhile consumers are asked to return any packs to the pharmacy and those who have taken 1 or more are asked to speak to their GP.

When visiting the Nurofen website a pop-up alarms the reader on the product recall, when the reader exits the pop-up there is also a 'statement on Nurofen Plus' which the reader can also select to read. It is evident Nurofen are using a range of media channels to make a public announcement.

 Nurofen have also added  to their website statement 'We would like to apologise to our consumers and customers for any inconvenience caused and thank them in advance for their co-operation.'

At present it seems Nurofen are focusing on informing the public on the Sabotage drug, which is rightly so, but they should also be concerned about the damage it is doing to their brand identity and how they can regain the   publics interest.

I suggest they include a mission statement to their website stating what they have done so far to recall the product and how many Nurofen workers are on the case. By doing so the public can see the hard work that is going into the recall and perhaps they can still have faith for the brand. This is exactly what Toyota done when they had to face a product recall...

Reckitt Benckiser UK LTD needs to approach the recall with a customer first philosophy and create video footage to reassure customers of safety and satisfaction that they will do everything they can to ensure this will not happen again. From video footage customers are likely to believe it will not happen again because it is being said first hand. Examples will also need to be shown that people are still purchasing the product. As soon as Nurofen know all 'Sabotage' products have been returned they will need to inform the public to create ease of mind.

My advice to brands is to have a plan for dealing with product recall and maximise every communications channel.

Is it right for the government to monitor social media after the London Riots?

I was glad to read Facebook and Twitter representatives are going to help the police learn about social networks and how they can monitor them for signs of trouble, especially after my recent post on the London Riots.

Public chatter on the internet was what made me thirsty for information on Google. I was refreshing the homepage every 30 minutes and craving for the latest video uploads. Unable to sleep I sifted through the information shocked and appalled, but at least I was reading information from reliable news sources, unlike the information on my news feed on Facebook and my timeline on Twitter! What a load of rubbish that was!

Online friends were posting status' that sounded naive, stupid and racist. They was also posting manipulative things to lead other internet users on to the point where I thought the riots had started  in MK. One status said 'there is a fire in Sainsbury's, Bletchley!!!'. I drove past Sainsbury's with my friend and there was no fire, but admittedly there was several riot officers. Granted this made me feel instantly safer BUT and it is a big but... if people in the MK area had not been posting misleading information would the police have been at Sainsbury's?

Besides false and inaccurate networking, another issue with social media throughout the riots was the fact looters was using it to arrange their movements. This explains the vast amount of broadcasts I received on my Blackberry Messenger stating that the free messaging service was due to be barred- more false information! I was still pinging my BBM contacts as normal.

Although the police cannot restrict false status' and tweets, they can crack down on criminal behaviour on these networks. For example the manufacturer RIM (Research in Motion) provides solutions for access to instant messaging such as BBM and they have already carried out negotiations with Saudi Arabia and India to monitor users messages.

I don't know how I feel about this sense of 'monitoring'...

From a western perspective it is understandable a middle- eastern country would monitor users particularly when North Korea have banned their internet altogether, but how can our country- a country that is passionate for human rights and equality and a country that has criticized others for their lack of internet usage, then decide to censor an individuals phone or social media. Surely this is taking some aspect of freedom away especially as we don't know where the police will be searching.

What do you think about this crackdown on social media? I suppose I do not consider myself lucky coming from a place like England. I should be thankful for the government not restricting the internet altogether.

The dire relationship between young people and the police that lead to a 3 day riot in London.

OK So I am a little bit late in writing up about the London Riots but it is still in my mind- so I'm sure it is in the minds of others!

Firstly I think it is important to show recognition and thank all of those kind hearted people who helped clean the streets of London after the rioting, looting and arson occurred. To me this shows solidarity in the community, which I was starting to question if there was any.

Secondly I am embarrassed to come from the same place as these horrible nasty people. When I found out, I was up late in bed thinking and searching for news on Google when I saw the capitals reputation going downhill in other parts of the world. Definitely not what London needed to the lead up of big events like the Olympics, the Notting Hill Carnival and the SW4 Festival...

 I love London and it has a great atmosphere but I am not sure if I will be attending any of these upcoming events now- Will I be safe? And I am sure I am not the only person questioning safety at this moment of time. Although rioters have been ordered to stay away from Notting Hill Carnival, I am not convinced they will. It is expected to finish early this year at 7pm- but didn't rioting occur in daylight... so is it going to stop them?

It is horrible to think people are now frightened of little scumbags. A peaceful protest in Tottenham lead to youths roaming the streets and stealing goods from retailers. I don't understand? Did young people see the Prime Minister on holiday as an excuse to cause chaos?

There is a dire relationship between young people and the police that young people knew the metropolitan police could not stop this mass looting. It shows how disrespectful the youths of today are. Although it wasn't a time for laughing I saw groups form on Facebook with titles such as 'Going to pick up our benefits, but realising we burnt down the Post Office' which is true! They were so stupid they were destroying the place they live.

Do we blame education, parents or the government?

Personally I blame the government... They make me cringe! The faces we were seeing on TV were faces that belonged to gangs. Why have the government not focused on this appalling increase in gang culture? Valid that these youths in gangs scare teachers, social workers and police officers but surely this is more reason to override the problem before more innocent people lose lives in monstrosity attacks like the London Riot 8/8/11. The government wanted a multicultural society with equal human rights but this is what has happened....

I am no Prime Minister, but I know for a fact the main cause of concern here are gangs. As a 21 year old I can shamefully say I know individuals that consider themselves in a gang, and although I think it is ridiculous, I know WHY they choose to be in gangs. They are blaming the government for having no job, and for coming from a less wealthier background that they steal to get the 'essentials' that are needed in everyday life like Smart phones, laptops, TV's etc.

I could go on and on...but I would like to finalize with stating the police should have beaten these people! I recently got back from my holiday in Spain and I witnessed them beating people. If English police adopted European policing strategies perhaps gangs would not want to commit such crime because they would be scared of the consequences...instead of the other way round.

The worst thing is I heard one rioter got sentenced to 1 day imprisonment! What a joke.