I recently came across an interesting article, based on an economic journal study about happiness in life. The article observes that: ‘Staying in education longer does not necessarily make someone happier, according to new research.’ The research was based on data from the UK and Germany and found that teenagers spending more time in education [...]
Author Archives:
Finding cancer rates hard to swallow?
Thursday 10th May 2012 – 12:43 PM
Preventable cancers come under the global spotlight next week, with the World Cancer Research Fund’s Cancer Prevention Week 2012 (14-18 May). But how can you support local people to recognise – and act on – the symptoms of cancer and tackle its prevalence in your community? Take oesophago-gastric (OG) cancer. Are people in your communities [...]
Pinterest: Flash in the pan or the next big thing?
Tuesday 8th May 2012 – 11:45 AM
There’s been a real online buzz around Pinterest, the latest social networking sensation, in recent months. But what exactly is Pinterest, and what’s propelling its rise? For the uninitiated, Pinterest does exactly what it says on the tin – with members able to ‘pin’ things that interest them in their personal and professional lives onto [...]
Writing web copy that really works: Top five tips
Thursday 3rd May 2012 – 4:15 PM
“79% of web users skim rather than read,” according to the so-called ‘king of usability’ Jakob Neilson. So why do so many organisations still treat their websites as a marketing ‘push’ rather than gearing their web copy up to ‘pull’ in web users? Web users are fundamentally goal-oriented and want to control their online experience [...]
To Shwop, or not to Shwop?
Thursday 3rd May 2012 – 1:56 PM
It’s been interesting to see Marks and Spencers’ new ‘Shwopping’ initiative this week – a clothes shopping and swapping scheme which will see all M&S stores accepting unwanted clothing of any brand, all year round. With clothes being resold, reused or recycled through Oxfam, the thinking is it will help reduce landfill. Looking at it [...]
Listening to young people – Innovation, creativity and engagement
Wednesday 25th April 2012 – 4:23 PM
What does it take to truly engage young people – and drive sustainable changes in their behaviour? Ask yourself, are you listening to their wants and needs? Do you understand what makes them tick? The truth is, there is no ‘one size fits all’ and ensuring young people are at the heart of any intervention [...]
Building a great website in three(ish) steps
Wednesday 25th April 2012 – 11:31 AM
So what is the “right way” to create a new website? Well, it’s not always an easy process – but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be simple. When it comes to creating that new website that will help people to engage with your service more effectively, help you sell more of your product range, or [...]
How to overcome fear of change: Five steps to empower your workforce
Thursday 19th April 2012 – 1:52 PM
The only constant is impermanence. We often have to change, either at home, at work or our social lives to adapt to the new situation or environment we find ourselves in. A few people welcome change but most can be a bit wary of it, to say the least. So, given that change is inevitable, [...]
Behavioural support: the key to smoke free futures?
Wednesday 11th April 2012 – 2:17 PM
The latest NICE guidelines highlight the delivery of brief interventions as a high impact change which encourages more people to smoke less. Typically taking 5-10 minutes, brief interventions offer opportunistic advice, discussion or encouragement – and are having a big impact on communities. For instance, our Stop4Life work in the Midlands focuses on meeting local [...]
The ICE Fitness Challenge: Week Five
Thursday 5th April 2012 – 9:15 AM
With Easter just around the corner and supermarket shelves stacked full of chocolate eggs, you’d be forgiven for thinking the efforts of ICE’s 12 fitness buddies have slacked over the past few weeks. However, the team taking part in the ICE Fitness Challenge are just as determined (if not more so) to get fitter and [...]
