JED Art: Ceramic Christmas gifts at craft fayre tomorrow

Dorset artist Jan Dowding of JED Art has made ceramic Christmas gifts (like this tealight-holder house) for sale on her stand at the Christmas Craft Fayre tomorrow at the Lighthouse Family Church (Holton Heath, Dorset), 10am–2pm.
   Jan's ceramics will help raise funds for slum children in Uganda through Dorset-based charity Child of Hope.
   The event will feature local craft producers selling ceramics, Tupperware, hand-made cards, paintings, jewellery, books, gifts, preserves, cakes… and loads more.

New… rabbit husbandry for slum school in Uganda

If you’re a bit squeamish… please don’t read on! In a new attempt to help its pupils understand about looking after animals – and to provide meat for its school dinners – Child of Hope school in Mbale is trialling a project to breed rabbits.

   In Uganda as in many countries (and rural England, of course) eating rabbits is culturally acceptable and simply plain good sense. For the school in the slum, it will mean our pupils will have the rare treat of eating meat a few more times during the year. Poverty prevents that from happening much (if ever) at home.    But… trying to stop the kids from holding the poor rabbits by their ears… well, that was nigh impossible!
   Child of Hope is also based in Dorset, UK.
 

Meet Santa at his grotto – or join him for breakfast!

Children can meet Santa in his grotto or even have breakfast with him at Cadnam Garden Centre this weekend, Dec 14 and 15.
   Santa will visit the centre on Saturday and Sunday to give children presents in his grotto. On Sunday children can have breakfast with him! Each activity costs £5 per child.
   All the events will raise funds for charity Honeypot, which enhances the lives of vulnerable children and young carers by providing respite breaks and on-going support.
   Breakfast with Santa times are 8.30–9.30am. Santa’s grotto times are 10am–1pm and 1.30–4pm.
   The local Salvation Army brass band will also appear on Saturday December 14, 11am–1pm.

Picture by Phil Dowding

Unique kitchen provides sales edge for luxury apartments

A bespoke kitchen designed and manufactured by Kirolite is helping provide a sales advantage in a developer’s conversion of an office block to luxury apartments.
   And it enabled the Dorset high-end furniture producer to win a contract to produce 40 high-end kitchens for the project.
   The developer's construction team wanted a unique kitchen design to boost its sales edge in a very busy property market, so we designed a unique image to a specific colour and requirements. It involved a handle-less system with a contemporary look and a bespoke colour that will last.
   Cupboard fronts are in an ivory colour, while formed metal sections are introduced in the kicker plates and special door-opening mechanism. All MDF is water-resistant and the solid-surface tops have a seamless finish.
Pictures to follow soon.

Your own inhouse, part-time marketing or PR manager

If you are a small business in Dorset struggling to know what to do about marketing... PR... social media... e-marketing – here's an idea. How about hiring your own part-time marketing & PR manager? Half day a week... one day a week? The positive impact on your business could be huge.

I'm Phil Dowding – not a consultant suggesting what you do – I would handle it for you, providing you with skills that you may not be able to afford with a full-time employee.

Click here for more information.

Oil painting: 'Sails'

Jan Dowding      ‏@JanDowding

Dorset artist Jan Dowding - one of my abstract oil paintings on canvas... I named it 'Sails'. 30x20" pic.twitter.com/rzhv8G3eIF

You can make a slum kids Christmas – for just £3.50

It's true.

UK charity Child of Hope is planning a special Christmas party for all its school pupils from the Namatala slum in Uganda. They will have a great meal – probably the only one this year with real meat – and each receive a gift, some clothing and sweets. Best of all, they get to have fun! It's a terrific event that brings a lot of happiness to the children – and they can bring a parent and brother/sister along too.

It all costs around £3.50 per child – so would you like to join the party by helping fund it? You could buy it for yourself, or pay for a friend! Any donations would be helpful, small or large, and we'll e-mail you a ‘Thank you’ card to print out and pop on your mantlepiece with all your other Christmas cards!

Here's how... www.childofhopeuganda.org/donation-shop/slum-kids-christmas/

Social media tips for charities

Phil Dowding ‏@PhilGDowding

Charities - great tips on managing your #socialmedia - http://abt.cm/1grFz6f

Seeing Double

Jan Dowding    @JanDowding

'Seeing Double' 30x24" acrylic painting on canvas... - - I love daisies... http://www.jedart.co.uk - pic.twitter.com/CZkHPJRK15

Festive ceramics gifts

Ceramics made by Jan Dowding of JED Art will soon help raise funds for slum children in Uganda through Dorset-based charity Child of Hope (she's a trustee!), which is building schools for slum kids in Uganda.

These tealight Christmas trees and other yuletide gifts she has made will be for sale on her stand at the Christmas Craft Fayre at the Lighthouse Family Church (Holton Heath, Dorset) on Dec 7, 10am–2pm.

The event will feature local craft producers selling ceramics, Tupperware, hand-made cards, paintings, jewellery, books, gifts, preserves, cakes… and loads more.

Sunseeker award for outstanding performance

Luxury wood machinist/joiner Kirolite is celebrating after winning a prestigious award from luxury boat builder Sunseeker International – for our 'outstanding' work on its top-of-the-range Sea Raider V craft.

The Dorset-based company provided one-off interior furniture for the 40 metre yacht, ranging from a bar, television cabinets and air conditioning units to chest of drawers and bedside cupboards.

The timeframe from concept through to actual fitting out was just 16 weeks, described by Sunseeker as an "outstanding performance in meeting our most demanding requirements."

The award is a huge feather in Kirolite's cap from one of the world's most prestigious brands. The company has worked with Sunseeker for 35 years and feels very proud that its role in meeting the most exacting of requirements has been recognised in this way.

The five cabin Sea Raider V can accommodate up to 12 guests and seven crew members and is capable of a top speed of 24 knots. She is the largest Sunseeker to be built ahead of the launch of the 155 yacht next year. Sea Raider V was displayed at this year's Cannes and Monaco yacht shows following delivery to her owner in the Mediterranean earlier this summer.

The special award was officially presented to Kirolite at the 2013 Sunseeker Supplier of the Year Awards. In the picture: Bonnie Randall, Kirolite's managing director (second right); Nigel Crabbe, sales manager (right) and shareholders John and Margaret Randall join staff to celebrate the special award from Sunseeker.

Antique metal look is just stunning

Bespoke furniture producer Kirolite's latest one-off project for a 115 Sunseeker yacht has been installed – a bar mirror in distressed bronze finish, complete with two shelves in gloss traditional walnut burr veneers with a modern twist of stainless steel polished rails.

We love the amazing new antique-metal-look finishes... perfect for on board a luxury yacht or in a beautiful home or hotel.

The requirement: An old-fashioned-style saloon mirror to be positioned above a small bar cupboard.

The effect: We overlaid a bronze antique effect on an original hardwood and MDF frame. This was sprayed with the finish of metal filings, with the top layer burnished off to expose the metal, a ragged process with acid to obtain a suitably-mottled effect, polished, left to tarnish, then sealed with top coat… all done in-house.

The result: A gorgeous finish… and one that can be used to make many wood products look like they’re made of distressed metal. The finishes are limitless!

Charlotte Richards, a new-generation grower

Charlotte Richards has been appointed a director of her family’s horticultural business – Golden Acres – which her father Paul started in 1980.

   Charlotte (19) is currently working her way through every department of the business to gain experience.

   The company is a large specialist grower of bedding plants – three million plants each year – and also owns five garden centres in Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Warwickshire.

   Formerly at Bournemouth School for Girls, Charlotte said: “I’m learning the business from the bottom up and thoroughly enjoying the experience.

   “I love plants especially bedding, which are so varied and colourful. That’s entirely what we focus on in our growing nurseries in Hampshire and Dorset. Then we sell the plants through our own centres and also supply to other garden centres around the south.”

www.golden-acres-nursery.co.uk  
Picture by Phil Dowding

Groveley Detection wins its largest orders for ultrasonic gas leak detection

Groveley Detection reports it has won its two largest order for ultrasonic gas leak detectors.
   For commercial reasons the company cannot yet divulge the client’s details, but two new Australian contracts will mean the supply of 224 of Groveley’s GDU-Incus detectors for an offshore installation and 149 Incus units for an onshore facility. The combined order value is in excess of $3.5 million.
   Delivery will be completed by June 2013, and Groveley is employing eight new staff members and expanding its factory to boost production.
   Managing director Robert Bennet said: “The technology is still relatively new and we believe this is the world’s largest order for UGLDs. It has focused us clearly on further growth.
   “Our Incus detector uses piezo technology rather than microphones, so it is extremely stable. It’s an all-British patented product; developed and manufactured at our Dorset factory.”
   The GDU-Incus offers a coverage area of up to 40m (pressure, leak size and background noise level dependent), a detection range between 25kHz to 100kHz and an instantaneous speed of response. The IP66/67-rated detector provides protection from the harshest of weather with a -55°C to +85°C operating temperature range.
   Each GDU-Incus is factory-set and requires no field calibration. It needs minimal maintenance and reliable operation is ensured using a continuous electronic self test.
www.groveley.com    Photography by Phil Dowding

Groveley Detection announces record year with 18% turnover boost

Hazard detection company Groveley Detection has announced a record year with an 18 per cent increase in turnover to £4.7 million for its latest financial year, which ended in May.

   It reports that profits in the period more than doubled, due to a higher proportion of its sales being own-build products than equipment it distributes.

   Managing director Robert Bennet said: “We have maintained sales of gas detection systems we sell in the UK as a distributor, and at the same time we have hugely increased sales of our own products, mainly to export markets. The main cause of that is our new Incus ultrasonic gas leak detector, which has allowed us to expand widely into world markets.

   He said: “We have made our name as problem-solvers; companies around the globe approach us with situations they need a solution for. Most locations we install equipment in are extremely hazardous – no two sites or facilities are exactly the same.”

   The growth meant the leasing of further premises adjacent to its factory in January, allowing Groveley to double its production capacity.

www.groveley.com      Picture by Phil Dowding