One In A Million: For the Love of…Manchester!

Posted by: Alison Chisnell on: November 21, 2012

• In: Corporate Social Responsibility | Fundraising
• 4 Comments

As part of our corporate social responsibility activity, Informa partners with the Prince’s Trust, a brilliant organisation that makes a huge difference to the lives of the one in five young people in the UK who are not in work, education or training. This year for the first time, some of our employees have taken part in the Million Makers challenge, forming three teams that have come up with a business plan, secured seed funding and are currently competing to raise the most money for The Prince’s Trust through their own enterprises.

Over the next few days I will be running a series of blogs featuring these three teams and the fantastic and inspiring projects they are running to raise money. I’m immensely proud of all of them for the hard work, dedication, determination and innovation they have demonstrated…all on top of very busy day-jobs!

The first team to be featured is Hour Manchester…and excitingly, I also have a free copy of their beautiful book to give away…! It’s only fair to let them describe their product and experience in their own words –

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‘Hour Manchester’ is a hardback reprographic book published in the spirit of The Prince’s Trust ‘Million Makers’ challenge, aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity. In order to put this book together we held a photography competition to capture and record images of Greater Manchester, its people, its community and its soul over a period of 24hrs. Ninety six of the winning entries have been published in the book, all sale proceeds of which will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

Along the way we received a great deal of support from our company Informa, as well as local businesses and sponsors. We also managed to get a few celebrities involved in the project, including Marc Riley (BBC Radio 6), John Robb (Louder Than War) and Mary Anne Hobbs (Xfm). But the turning point, we believe, was getting some high-profile judges on board to help us choose from the hundreds of entries we received, ones that really stood out. Kevin Cummins – a professional photographer renowned for his work with rock musicians and bands – and Helen Wewiora – a visual arts officer at Arts Council England – both agreed to help us make a selection of 9 images that deserved some extra attention. Their input has been priceless to us and the people who have been selected.

Which is why this book is a promise of stunning and striking photographs that record the everyday lives of Mancunians. We believe the finished ‘Hour Manchester’ book is an innovative collection of iconic Manchester images seen through the eyes of the people that live in this vibrant city. And it just happens to be an amazing Christmas gift idea that is not only unique but would also help the underprivileged young people that The Prince’s Trust supports. If you would like to purchase a copy go to our Just Giving page and make a donation of £15 and we’ll send you your very own copy!

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In order to enter the competition to win one of these very special books, please leave a comment below, stating what you love most about the city of Manchester. The competition will remain open until the end of Tuesday 27th November and will be judged by our very own Hour Manchester team, who are far more qualified than me in the topic of their home  city!

To give you a flavour of what is in the book, have a look at this homemade, very lovely video…

 

 

And here are just a few of the many excellent entries received…

 

So, what are you waiting for? Enter today for your chance to win this very special book. All proceeds go directly to the Prince’s Trust.