UCLan Students Style Up Fishergate’s Fashions

A new campaign joining the Fishergate Shopping Centre with UCLan’s Fashion Promotion With Styling course means that students will soon get the chance to work on real-life marketing projects

The campaigns, aimed to raise the centre’s profile, will be in the hands of the students as they come up with concepts, source models and choose locations for photoshoots as well as working with store managers to pick which outfits take the spotlight.

The campaigns are just one initiative under the partnership with a digital style magazine, social media content, and control of the shopping centre’s displays all on the agenda.

The link up was organised by 25-year-old Retail Liaison Manager, Claire Johnson, who studied the very course she is now helping.

She said: “I am only too aware how valuable real experience is. I’m also aware of the great ideas that the students on the course have. This is a great way to harness and use those ideas and the enthusiasm of the students to help raise the profile of the centre and to enhance our marketing activity.”

Abigail Hughes, seen here working on a display, said: “I’m enjoying the social media side of the project; it is interesting work and really good fun.”

The Fashion Promotion students will also take part in pop-up events in Fishergate where’ll they’ll offer the shoppers personal styling consultations.

The link up follows an initiative  last year which saw UCLan students organising a fashion show in the centre.

Course leader, Nicola Palmer, had high hopes for the link up saying; “We’re looking forward to seeing the ideas and concepts created by the students on the course becoming a reality and playing their part in the centre’s marketing mix this year.”

“It’s an exciting concept and we’re grateful to Claire and the management at the Fishergate Centre for making this possible. It’s a great example of how the university and business in the city can work together in Partnership.”

Uclan Student Dominique Harrison-Bentzen Spends 24 On The Streets To Raise Money For Preston’s Homeless Hero Robbie

Christmas is a time for giving; we give gifts to our friends, our family and even ourselves, but what about those who are less fortunate?

When UCLan student Dominique Harrison-Bentzen was on her way home from a night out she realised that she’d lost her bank card and had no money to get home. When homeless Robbie stepped in to offer her his only change of £3 Dominique was left touched by the kind gesture especially as it came from someone who faces ignorance every day.

This seemingly random act of kindness is what inspired Dominique to help Robbie as she set out on a mission to find him. Whilst looking for him Dominique discovered that the random act of kindness wasn’t so random after all as she learnt about his gestures for other people like returning lost wallets and offering his scarf to try and keep people warm.

After finding Robbie she learnt his story, having been homeless for 7 months he was left unable to find work as he has no permanent residence.

Dominique was determined to help and started a fund raising page urging people to sponsor her £3, in honour of the £3 Robbie offered to her, as she prepared to spend 24 hours living on the streets to help her understand the difficulties they face whilst helping Robbie find a home.

 “It was one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done”

The fund raiser was a massive success and her original goal of £500 was blown out of the water after she raised over £32,000. The overwhelming response to the cause has led to Dominique creating a follow-up page entitled Continue Helping Robbie which has so far raised another £12,000.

Once the media picked up on Dominique’s effort to repay Robbie’s kindness awareness of the cause grew which even lead to technical difficulties on her donation page due to a reported “unusually high number of visitors”.

Spending 24 hours on the streets is something that Dominique has described as “one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done” and whilst she’s aware that 24 hours isn’t a true reflection of what life is really like being homeless she told us that “having a small insight was definitely valuable.”

During the fundraising she also volunteered at a soup kitchen which gave her the chance to meet many people and families who were in need. She said the volunteer work was an “eye opening experience” and the work the kitchen does has encouraged her to continue working with the cause in the coming year.

Whilst Robbie wishes to remain out of the media there’s no denying that the fundraising has had a positive impact for him. Thanks to the donations he was able to stay in a safe and secure accommodation over the Christmas period whilst he prepares to move in to his permanent new home.

The volume of money raised looks set to have a wider impact too as Robbie suggested that anything that was donated over his target should be donated to the charities that helped him throughout his difficult times. Dominique also told us that she personally felt “it would be irresponsible to not help as many people as possible with the large amount that has been raised.” and that the majority of donators are “passionate” about the idea.

Donating to charities is something that Dominique is taking seriously, taking suggestions from those who have donated and Robbie himself, and she is now seeking professional advice as she wants to ensure that everyone’s donations are “handled in the most respectful and responsible way.”

Halloween In Preston

Looking for a spooky night out in Preston this halloween?
This guide will tell you all the best events from Preston’s best clubs across halloween weekend.

 

Monday 27th October

Start the scary fun early on Monday at Cameo & Vinyl with a social special.

 

Wednesday October 29th

Evoque’s student night Epik! gets a special Halloween theme across its two floors on Wednesday with selected drinks just £2.00 all night and special scary skull cocktails on offer.

 

Thursday October 30th

MACs is bringing back your favourite Freshers event with a creepy twist on Thursday with GHOULIE SKOOLIE’S. Uni left you feeling like death? Then this event is perfect for you and if you want to party till sunrise then don’t worry because Three in a Bed is still happening which means you can head over to Blitz where the party carries on until 6AM.

 

Friday 31st October

Halloween night itself sees CARNEVIL come to MACs and will feature your favourite MACs music with all the fun of the carnival in the form of stilt walkers, fire dancers and much more.

How the Kim Kardashian game took the world by storm

It’s been less than a month since Kim Kardashian Hollywood was released onto the Apple app store on June 25th and in that short space of time the game game has become a sensation.

The game lets users create their own character and step into the Kardashian lifestyle of photoshoots and drama, with a rival who’s actions bring back memories of LC and Heidi from the Hills.

Building on the freemium business plan, which worked a treat for King Games with their hit the Candy Crush Saga, players use energy to complete actions within the game to earn money and celebrity status.

This energy will refill on its own or players can purchase K coins to refill it or to buy clothes or charm other characters with Kim helpfully reminding the player that charming people will give the best results.

Despite the frustration that can come with running out of energy midway through a photoshoot the game is a hit and has almost perfect ratings on both the App Store and Google Play.

The game is also set to be a hit for Kim with bloomberg reporting that the game could make $200 Million within the next year through in app purchases or advertisements.

The only question now is whether the game will receive enough updates to keep players interested once they hit the A list and become the #1 trending celebrity in game.

New version of Lana Del Rey – West Coast Released

A new version of West Coast, the first single from Lana Del Rey’s new album Ultraviolence, has been released.

This version sees Dan Heath, known to Lana fans for his work on Blue Jeans, remix the track with an orchestral feel to it.

The remix is much more reminiscent of the songs on Lana’s debut album Born To Die, originally released in January 2012.

The album peaked at number one in the UK album charts and even received a special re-release under the title Born To Die: The Paradise edition back in November of 2012.

Lana’s sophmore album, Ultraviolence, is set to be released on the 13th June but album’s first single, West Coast, has already hit the airwaves.

The single sees Lana taking on a new sound but her Americana lyrics are still present and fans of the singer will recognise it as one of hers from the off.

The Original

The German Mix

Dan Heath Orchestral

 

National No Smoking Day

National No Smoking day is a campaign spearheaded by the British Heart Foundation and has been running since 1983.

This year’s campaign focus on ex-smokers who achieved “V for Victory in the battle against smoking.”

Stephen Commissiong from the Bridgewater trust described the day as being about more than just stopping smoking and that the day should be for people to look at their lifestyle choices

Figures published by Action on Smoking and Health show that 22% of women and 27% of men are ex-smokers and two thirds of current smokers would like to stop.

Wigan Bouncer Waxes Chest for Charity

A Wigan bouncer had his chest waxed to raise £500 for Wigan And Leigh Olympic Wrestling club.

Stefan Gradwell, 46, Oldhall Street, Ince, was raising the funds needed to send young wrestlers to America.

The trip will see the wrestlers heading to Missouri, America, for two weeks to complete rigorous training and compete with local wrestlers.

“The quality of wrestlers is generally better in America” claims Stefan whose son, 14, wrestles for the club.

His son is one of the few being chosen to go on the trip and Stefan has decided to pay to chaperone the trip and see his son in action.

The trip will cost him £750 for the tickets, funded by himself, with the team staying with local families who have agreed to accommodate the team.

Whilst he’s more used to working the doors of clubs, including places like Surfer’s Paradise and The Village On The Green, Stefan says he doesn’t mind doing something unusual saying “It was about finding something that caught people’s attention so they’d donate more.”

Stefan claims the chest wax was his wife’s idea and says that people have been “excited” to see it take place, something he says is down to seeing him “in pain and agony more than anything else.”

The chest wax is part of a club effort with various other fund raising events having taken place including a ladies night and bag packs at local supermarkets, in an effort to reach the clubs total goal of £12,000.

The money raised will also go towards sending a selected few to the Commonwealth Games were they have been chosen to compete.

National Libraries Day Sees New Scheme For Wigan Youngsters

As part of National Libraries Day a scheme has been launched to give  children a helping hand on their first steps to becoming regular readers.

Wigan Leisure And Culture trust has teamed up with Wigan Council’s registrars to make sure every baby whose birth is registered in the borough will recieve a library card.

Wendy Heaton, at WLCT which manages the town’s libraries on behalf of the council said : “By providing children with library cards from day one, we can help start them on an exciting journey to learn about the joys of reading.”

The current library cards all feature pictures taken by graduates of Lensflair, a free digital photography course held at the library which teaches basic photography skills as well as tips to help people get the most out of their cameras.

Councillor Paul Kenny, Cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: “There is a great relationship between our local libraries and their customers, and I am really impressed by the innovative ways we are reaching the community through schemes like these.”

If you’re interested in Lensflair, or one of the libraries’ other services like the WorkClub then click here.

 

Boy Bands Vs Girl Groups: Who’s really the most popular?

Everyone knows the real battle of the sexes boils down to music. The rivalries of boy bands vs girl groups has been around almost for decades but now it’s time to crown the real winner. Who sells more records is it the boy bands that have millions of screaming fans or is it the iconic girl groups who inspire generations?

AND THE WINNER IS…… BOY BANDS!

Whilst some of the best selling boy bands might seem out dated (here’s looking at you The Osmonds) and some of the girl groups still seem to be featured in the media, like TLC finally getting their own biographical film, there’s no denying the figures. Boy bands simply sell more records! Even I was shocked to see that current phenomenon One Direction weren’t on the list, maybe it’s because of the recent increase in piracy (or maybe I’m just making up excuses.)

Sorry girls, you put up a good fight, but this crown is placed firmly on the heads of the boys.

(Information sourced from here & here)

Britain And Bad Weather: People Give Their Opinions

With winter just around the corner and snowy weather already on its way I decided to ask people for their opinions on the way Britain as a country seems to come to a standstill when the snow hits. The overwhelming view was that we should be better prepared to handle the weather, especially given its frequency in recent years. Between 1971 and 2000 the UK got on average 33 days of snow fall or sleet a year yet last year the bbc reported that nearly 5000 schools closed because of the weather.

So if the bad weather looks set to hit where you are soon make sure to stay safe! The met office offers regular updates on the weather and hazard warnings so keep vigilant.