Only a few days left before the end of this year 365 project

Well, that’s it, we are now in the last month of 2011, having covered every day of life in Canterbury, Faversham and Sheppey. About 240 photographers have registered to take part and we are delighted with the several thousands of submissions. The last jury session will take place in January, and we will know then what each set of 365 photographs will be for each area and we will make some of them available to you. However, the whole project will be revealed in its entirety during the exhibitions in September and October 2012.
Our work here continues with fundraising, a vital part of the project; without financial support, the 365 wouldn’t take place. Then, another part of the work will involve lots of editing and designing, putting the exhibitions and the books together.

Thank you to our sponsors and funders

We would like to warmly thank those who are helping us putting this ambitious project together.
Platinum sponsors:
Bygone Kent, EuroCanterbury, the KM Group, Ossie’s Fish Bar, Shepherd Neame.
We would like to wish Ossie’s Fish Bar all the best, following the fire that put them out of action earlier this week. Looking forward to seeing them back in business asap.
Gold Sponsors:
Macknade Fine Foods, Peel Ports, Robinsons Foundry Ltd, Sheerness Gateway, Tassells Solicitors
Silver Sponsors:
Doddington Place Gardens, Kent Profile, Lenleys, Sandhurst Farm Forge, Soul Solutions
Bronze Sponsors:
Brian Kelsey & Co Ltd, Canterbury Camera Centre, Heselden Hats, Victor Hire Ltd

And of course our funders:
Bensted’s Charity, Faversham Town Council, Queenborough Fishery Trust, Swale Borough Council

The Faversham website is helping promote the 365 project and its photographers.

Some photographs from 365 are now displayed on the town newly revamped website. We are pleased that the 365 photographs have been selected, promoting the 365 project at the same time as the town. The pictures are on the website only for display purposes; photographers will be contacted for any other use. Thank you to the FEP team for collaborating with 365 on this.

Keep in touch with the project

Of course, we will keep updating you all about the progress of the 365 with news every month of 2012.
Also, do connect with us via:
- the 365 Projects Facebook Page.
- Twitter: @kentcreativeart

In the meantime, we would like to wish you an excellent Christmas break…

We look forward to seeing you in the new year!

David Jones – Havas Worldwide CEO – was on BBC Radio 4 in the Today programme this morning, talking about his book “Who cares wins”. Very inspiring.
It simply confirmed my strong belief that businesses do benefit enormously from associating themselves to what is meaningful to their customers.
So, the idea is that one key to business success is caring. According to David Jones, businesses do get better if they do good things for the world. The best businesses are the most socially responsible. I can’t agree more.

Getting their name out there in advertising make businesses feel like they are raising awareness, as people read the name of their company, see their logo, their products etc… And it works to some extent. But it doesn’t say much about what that company is really about. It doesn’t transmit any message about whether they care for something or not.

Showing that they actually care for the community they are part of does change the perception consumers have of businesses and it definitely has an impact on their reputation. Developing an exposure by association to a group, an initiative or an event that is meaningful to the people they want to communicate with, can be extremely powerful. Being socially responsible shows that they care and consumers like businesses who care.
The other way round, if a business is not socially responsible and doesn’t get involved in what relates to concerns their community members have, it’s pretty much like saying “we don’t care”. And that does cause damages.

David Jones is mainly referring to large businesses with a worldwide impact, but the same principle applies on different scales. It is as important for small businesses to show care for their local communities.

There are many themes to get involved in, many causes to support, as long as it is genuine. Health, children, umemployed, etc… and the arts. We are not short of areas that needs care, and initiatives to support.
I am passionate about the importance of art because it is a fantastic medium for people to communicate about themselves and their concerns. It is also a medium that people who need help and support in their lives can benefit from, by simply practising it. And if used with some form of changes in mind, it allows the least powerful people of a society to help make these changes. Plus, it is a learning tool. Basically, it makes people feel better.

A community art event for example brings together people to practice a form of art which gives them satisfaction and pleasure (vital in difficult times), it communicates what they want to express and it allows them to share it with the rest of the community. Taken further, it increases a sense of belonging and pride within their community, and it can help make decisions for changes.

Surely, businesses part of the same communities need to be involved. They need to show that they care.

Watch David Jones at the Who Cares Wins Conference Day

Sponsorship is a very powerful and effective marketing tool because it increases impact on people beyond awareness and promotion.
Sponsorship, unlike advertising, creates connections with positive ideas and it offers significant marketing advantages as well as showing support.  While attracting a business’ audience, sponsorship creates opportunities to broaden its exposure, increasing its credibility, image and prestige.
To sponsor an event is to support it financially, with cash or in-kind, in return for benefits and commercial potential.  The event gets help with the expenses and the business gets exposure and low cost marketing.
Sponsorship helps increase awareness, brand building, willingness to purchase and loyalty, but it is different from advertising in the sense that it doesn’t communicate specific information about a product, and it doesn’t go on its own, without an event attached to it.
Event sponsorship triggers emotions and feelings precisely because it is connected to an event that means something to the people involved.  Sponsorship is better and more efficient for a business because of its ability to associate this business to a message, to a set of ideas and concepts that are about the event. These ideas can evoke community, sense of place, localism, creativity, civic pride, feel good factor etc…
As a result, businesses associated to positive ideas and quality, are looked at more favourably, with an enhanced image. The message works in the audience mind and builds loyalty.

Sponsorship helps get several benefits at once:

. With events designed for a variety of groups, sponsors can reach specific markets.
. Audiences perceive sponsorship in a positive way, seeing companies allowing activities to take place as a result of their support. Companies are viewed as supporting the community, contributing to its development.
. Sponsorship of a local event is a two-way exchange, providing sponsors with opportunities to connect live with their audience and customers.
. Sponsors staff can be directly involved with sponsorship, for example by attending sponsored event.
. Sponsorship at a local level is affordable to the smaller companies, unlike advertising that can be very expensive.
. Events are excellent for networking, with VIP receptions, event launches, private views, etc… creating opportunities to meet customers and business partners.
. A sponsor brand and products can be showcased in sponsored events, being used for increased awareness: food/drinks for a launch, T-shirts worn by volunteers, TV screens used for picture displays, etc… This type of promotion drives sales.
. Media covering an event may include sponsors names or photos.
. A sponsor name has the opportunity to stand out above its competitors, sometimes allowing smaller companies to put themselves forward, before bigger companies.

An economic downturn may not seem to be a good time for sponsorship, but in fact it’s even more vital for businesses to get their names out and to sell their services and products.
Consumers like businesses who care. Businesses can show they do, helping an event by way of sponsorship.

Judges have selected photographs taken in July, August and September

The third judging session took place last week to select photographs taken during the third quarter of the year.

A Year in the Life of Canterbury
Area covered by 134 photographers, submitting 345 photographs.
You can see some of the chosen photographs here

A Year in the Life of Faversham
Area covered by 72 photographers, submitting 372 photographs.
You can see some of the chosen photographs here

A Year in the Life of Sheppey
Area covered by 51 photographers, submitting 296 photographs.
You can see some of the chosen photographs here

One more judging session in January, and we will know what the 365 images are for the three areas!

Promotion of the 365 project via www.faversham.org

The team at the Faversham website has offered to help with promoting A Year in the Life of Faversham, displaying some of the submitted pictures on their homepage. This is an opportunity for the us to raise awareness of the project; both 365 and the photographers will be credited. Typically, this is a positive partnership where all parties benefit.
The images will not be used in any other way.

The importance of Art

On last week Any Questions (BBC Radio 4), a question was: ‘Does the panel think that art and culture can lead to real economic development?’

Matthew Parris: Yes, absolutely, of course it can. The whole history of England – and of Scotland and Wales too – the whole history of England is a history of art and culture and literature and drama, and vigorous cultural life, and for that reason we have tourists, we have a wonderful publishing industry, we have the best newspapers in the world, we have people coming here, we have people coming all over the country, going to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit things… The culture of a country is the heart beat of a country, and if you lose the culture, if you lose the heart beat for some kind of cold economic conception of what you’re there for, you lose everything, including the economic.

David Davis: The Renaissance was a great economic explosion and was a great artistic explosion. And our industrial revolution; of course it was Stephenson, but it was also Wedgwood, it was Crystal Palace, it was the Tate Gallery, so they go absolutely hand in hand. The greatest time of creativity in all countries’ history is both industrial, both economic and artistic.

Rachel Reeves: I think it makes a huge difference, it has a huge economic benefit. (…) All of these things bring in tourists but also give opportunities to young people and older like in communities, particularly in a city area. I think this is so important for economic regeneration but also for people who live there.

And it is so true. For these reasons, we have already stressed how much we are trying to get all types of members of our community involved in the 365 projects.
There are various ways for both individuals and businesses to benefit from these projects when supporting them at the same time. Have a look here, there is something for everyone…

Kent Photo Library

We have contacted you before about the Kent Photo Library, an online resource for good quality images of Kent at affordable prices, that we are about to launch. We are in the process of including photographs in the collections, before launching it for all users, and we would like to thank all of you who had agreed to include photographs that were taken for the 365 projects. Added to the submissions made specifically to the Library, it now provides a very large number of images!

We are taking part in the NatWest Community Force scheme for the 365 projects (Canterbury, Faversham and Sheppey) to win £6,000 that would help fund the exhibitions and books.
Please vote for us! Voting will end on 23rd October.
Click here to vote now

If you are not registered with NatWest Community Force, you will need to register first before you can vote. Here is how:
- Click on the ‘Register’ link at the top of the page;
- Enter your name, email address and password in the form provided;
- You will receive a confirmation email sent to your inbox. Click on the link supplied in this email to confirm your registration;
- Go to the 365 project page again here to vote;
- Tick the ‘I accept the NatWest CommunityForce Voting Terms and Conditions’ box;
- Click on the “Vote for us” red button;
- Enter your email address and password to log in;
- That’s it!

Please vote. Everything we do to try and raise funds for the 365 projects is vital. Your support is greatly appreciated.
We thank you very much in advance!

We need you to support 365

We work hard setting up the main exhibitions and design the books for the 365 project because we love it. We love community photography and believe that it’s doing people good; it can help make changes.
The many comments we receive from participants really are encouraging and keep us going. However, we cannot achieve this without financial support, essential to make things happen.
Whether you are a contributor to the 365 projects (therefore with a motivation for making it a success) or not, you can help by spreading the word about them. This gives them a larger exposure and increases people’s participation.
Then, the different ways we use to raise funds include:

• Fundraising events.They are meant not only to raise funds but also awareness of the project, so to achieve both of these goals, we need you to come along, and to tell your friends and family… Costs are affordable and you get to have a great time when supporting 365!
  Coming next, a much anticipated talk by reknowned photographer Steve Bloom who will be talking about his work around the world, whilst showing some of his stunning photographs. This is this coming Wednesday, 5th October, at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge.
  Also this coming week, the charming slideshow and talk by Peter Kennett based on old photographs of Faversham.
• Corporate sponsorship. We firmly believe that businesses do benefit a lot from being associated with the arts, and connecting with the many people interested in photography. Local businesses can increase their exposure in the area when supporting 365. So if you know a business who may be interested, please put them in touch with us.
• Sponsor a Page. This campaign is designed for individuals to get involved by sponsoring a page in the 365 books. A lovely thing to do as a gift for a beloved one, or simply to show your support.
• Grants. And we are pleased to have been successful with several applications, showing the support we get from local authorities and charities.
• Calendars. Designed using photographs taken by participants to 365, they are meant to accompany you all along the year…

2012 Calendars

The 365 calendars are now available for Faversham and Sheppey and will be in Canterbury next week. You can check where they can be purchased from on this page

We will have the Canterbury calendars with us at the Steve Bloom event, before they get distributed in town. So if you wish to get your own(s), do come along on Wednesday 5th October between 7:00 and 7:30pm.

During the Hop Festival week-end, 365 will be having a stall at the Assembly Rooms (former Drill Hall). Do come and visit us. You will be able to:

• get your 2012 calendar for Faversham (Calendars for Canterbury and Sheppey will go on sale a few days later).
• purchase tickets for the coming events that we are organising in September and October:
  . Christine Tobin concert – Sat 10th September
  . Steve Bloom talk – Wed 5th October
  . Old photographs of Faversham with Peter Kennett – Sat 8th October
• learn about our support schemes for individuals and businesses to play their part in the 365 projects.

Christine Tobin interviewed by Nigel Ansell on Kmfm

Many many thanks to Nigel Ansell and Kmfm for the extremely nice interview of Christine Tobin last Thursday.
To hear Christine say: “I think this project is really really excellent. What a better way to show the area, the town and the environment that people live in; and get ordinary people to photograph it, is a wonderful idea” simply made my day!

You can listen to this interview on youtube:

There is few seconds break in the middle of the itw… Do keep listening, the itw will continue.

The second judging session took place last week to select photographs taken between 1st April to 30th June 2011.
Here are some details about the results of the second judging session:

A Year in the Life of Canterbury
Area covered by 122 photographers
333 photographs have been submitted during the second quarter.
Judging session took place on 26th July 2011 at the Deeson Group
Judges: Philippe Esclasse (Canterbury City Centre Co-ordinator), David Hayward (Artist), Janice McGuinness (Head of Culture and Enterprise, Canterbury City Council), Karen Shepherdson (Programme Director of Photography, Canterbury Christ Church University) and Richard Walton (FRPS, Photographer)

A Year in the Life of Faversham
Area covered by 64 photographers
435 photographs have been submitted during the second quarter.
Judging session took place on 28th July 2011 at the Shepherd Neame Visitor Centre
Judges: Simon Giles (Director at Creek Creative), Cllr Anita Walker (Mayor of Faversham) and Laurence Young (Faversham Enterprise Partnership).

A Year in the Life of Sheppey
Area covered by 46 photographers
367 photographs have been submitted from 1st January to 31st March.
Judging session took place on 27th July 2011 at the Isle of Sheppey Academy in Sheerness
Judges: Emma Grove (Kent Messenger), Derek Johnson ( Mayors Civic Attendant), Paul Murray (Head of Community Cohesion, The Isle of Sheppey Academy), Cllr Ben Stokes and Sylvia Bennett (Mayor and Mayoress of Swale)

You can see a selection of photographs that the judges have selected from the second quarter of the year:
Canterbury
Faversham
Sheppey

One year to go before the Olympic Games

As you all know, the Olympic Games in London will start in one year, from 27th July to 12th August 2012. To celebrate the event, we have organised photographs to be taken every day, during exactly the same period in Faversham, of olympic sports.
We hope that photographers covering Canterbury and Sheppey will have many opportunities too!

Here is the schedule:
Done so far:
Wed 27/07/2011 -Weightlifting – The Abbey Sports Centre
Thu 28/07/2011 – Football – Faversham Town Football Club
Fri 29/07/2011 – Gymnastics – Faversham Community Gymnastic and Activity Centre
Sat 30/07/2011 – Rowing – The Abbey Sports Centre
Sun 31/07/2011 -Canoeing – Harty Ferry
Coming up:
Mon 01/08/2011 – Synchronised Swimming – Faversham Swimming pool
Tue 02/08/2011 – Water Polo – Faversham Swimming pool
Wed 03/08/2011 – Competitive Swimming – Faversham Swimming pool
Thu 04/08/2011 – Badminton – The Abbey Sports Centre
Fri 05/08/2011 – Boxing – Boxing Club
Sat 06/08/2011 – Tennis – Faversham Tennis Club
Sun 07/08/2011 – Wrestling – The Abbey Sports Centre
Mon 08/08/2011 – Hockey – The Abbey Sports Centre
Tue 09/08/2011 – Athletics (running) – The Abbey Sports Centre
Wed 10/08/2011 – Cycling – Ian Wilson, cycling for Help for Heroes
Thu 11/08/2011 – Taekwondo -The Abbey Sports Centre
Fri 12/08/2011 – Portrait of Hugh Robertson

As for the rest of the project, anybody can take part at any time. If any of the participants covering Faversham are interested in photographing the remaining sports during this fortnight, please get in touch with us and we let you know the details of locations, time etc.

All submitted photographs for these sports are published on Flickr.

Bensted’s Charity supports A Year in the Life of Faversham

Bensted’s Charity has awarded a grant of £1,000 to A Year in the Life if Faversham. The Charity purposes include the support of individuals and organisations developing educational and leisure activities for the benefit of local residents.

All our thanks go to the trustees…

Fundraising events

We hold a Treasure Hunt yesterday, Sunday 31st, to which 18 teams of people people took part. It was a great sunny day and everybody seemed to have enjoyed the walk and the game.
The treasure hunt was meant to give the opportunity to people of Faversham to have a good time exploring the town and testing their knowledge of it. Some questions involved taking pictures, making it accessible to children as well as adults, motivating them to look around in an active way, and making them feel happy where they live.

You can get more information about other coming events on our Events page. Do watch that space for updates .

We have appointed the The Deeson Group to deal with developing, marketing and launching the Kent Photo Library that we have been putting together over the past few months.
With Deeson on board, we will call for more photographers to take part and submit their images, building a large photo library entirely dedicated to the county of Kent – from icons to the ordinary, quaint to the quirky.

These images will be available at affordable prices for a variety of uses, eg magazines, adverts, posters, website, and licensed online for immediate access. Proceeds will be shared on a 50%/50% basis between photographers and Kent Creative Arts who will reinvest them into arts development projects within Kent including the 365/Year in the Life projects.

If you are a photographer, get in touch via email or phone on 01795 597 576

More info: Kent Photo Library

Announcement on the the Deeson website

We are now half way through the year, and the second quarter will be judged in a few days time. The number of photographers taking part has now reached 200, with 2170 submitted photos in total until 30th June 2011!

We would like to thank Swale Borough Council for their additional support via the Swale Arts Grant. You can read more about it on the press release.

A big thank you to the trustees of the Queenborough Fishery Trust too, for confirming their support for ‘A Year in the Life of Sheppey’ with a grant of £2,000. The Trust believes that this award will help us bring benefit to the local residents via ‘A Year in the Life of Sheppey’. Also read the press release.

We are working with PR company IMM to develop new ideas for support schemes to fund the 365 projects, both for individuals and businesses. These schemes will offer great benefits for all and I quite look forward to share all the details with you very soon!

Part of our fundraising activity, you have received our invitations to the next events that we are organising. Here they are again:

Note the Treasure Hunt coming very soon in Faversham, on Sunday 31st July during the Art Fair.

You can get more information about these events on our Events page. Do watch that space for updates on coming events.