The stage is set for Firestone!

Firestone is setting the stage for scores of unsigned acts to showcase their skills to more than 15,000 people, courtesy of a unique partnership with the Barclaycard Arena.

The tyre brand will transform the Birmingham venue’s unsigned area into the Firestone Stage, allowing ambitious musicians to make a fitting first impression inside the arena before the headliners take to the stage.

Officially launched on March 21 at Ellie Goulding’s Birmingham show, the sponsored stage will play host to unsigned artists in the pre-show entertainment arena at selected arena events, exhibiting a wide array of music talent from across the UK to up to 15,800 people.

Situated on the main concourse, the stage will also act as the platform for Firestone’s annual Battle of the Bands competition, where musicians compete to win personalised Marshall amplifiers, music equipment and an opportunity to perform on the stage in future months.

  

The Barclaycard Arena partnership represents part of Firestone’s long-term efforts to reach a vibrant, exuberant audience through music.

 

It is announced in addition to a Download Festival sponsorship, where a huge Firestone presence has been confirmed for the event from June 10th to 12th supported by a number of activities to be confirmed.

Innovative music themed sales promotions and incentives have been created for motorists, as the brand adopts an energetic, vibrant approach to sponsorships in 2016 quite unlike its fellow tyre competitors.

Having initially signed a sponsorship deal in August 2015, the Barclaycard Arena has already helped Firestone to generate significant brand awareness across their social channels and within the arena’s Show Lounge, an exclusive Amplify hospitality seating area.

Phil Mead, Managing Director for the Barclaycard Arena said: “This reinforces the Barclaycard Arena as being an attractive proposition for many companies wishing to target a young-at-heart demographic. 

“Hosting some of the world’s top events, featuring state of the art facilities and its central locality within the UK’s second city, means the arena attracts a wide variety of music lovers, ensuring brand exposure to over half a million customers every year. 

“Further investment from Firestone in our pre-show entertainment area, is testament to how companies are recognising the benefits of this exposure. 

“The partnership will further strengthen our offering for customers and provide a great platform for unsigned music artists to showcase their talents.”

Firestone’s brand manager Stuart Attfield said: “We can see huge potential through our relationship with the Barclaycard Arena, which represents a focal part of our plans for 2016.

“We always strive to activate sponsorships in tangible ways for our customers to benefit from. The Firestone Stage allows us to do that and we look forward to seeing all manner of talented music acts on our stage.

“Who knows, they might go on to perform on the main stage one day, which would be a dream scenario for everyone.”

Artists wishing to submit material for consideration can do so by posting a video of their performance on the Barclaycard Arena Facebook page or tweet a link to @BCardArena with the hashtag #FirestoneBham.  Submissions will be reviewed and a representative from the Barclaycard Arena will be in touch with selected applicants.

For more information about Firestone, visit www.firestone.eu

Breastfeeding Mum Being Stared At In 'Disgust'

Mum Encourages Others To 'Breastfeed Uncovered' After Being Stared At In 'Disgust'

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Earlier today I posted this picture of my son and I breastfeeding uncovered in a public restaurant. In the picture, it appears I'm staring off into the distance. In reality, I'm staring into the eyes of a woman staring at me. She is looking at me with disgust and shaking her head with judgement in an attempt to shame me and indirectly tell me without words that I am wrong and need to cover myself.

Let me make my reasoning clear on why I post pictures of my son and I publicly ...

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Research reveals how to stop children smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs Programmes to prevent smoking, alcohol and drug use should match the children’s ages, focus on the vulnerable and be matched with price, availability and advertising rules.   That’s the conclusion of a research project reviewing latest evidence on how to influence young people’s behaviour. "You are wasting effort telling young people to avoid alcohol if age restrictions are not enforced at liquor stores and beer drinking is advertised at football matches", explains author, Rutger Engels, Professor in Developmental Psychopathology at Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, writing on the Child and Family Blog, ChildandFamilyBlog.com, a new site where the world’s leading child researchers summarise their latest findings.   Get pre-publication access to Professor Engel’s research summary, to be published on 16 February: English | German | French   Facebook Twitter Website

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Pregnancy, a missed opportunity to influence later health?

Report by the Infant & Toddler Forum calls for  nutrition guidance in pre-conception and pregnancy to be a public health priority

A report released today by the Infant & Toddler Forum (ITF)  highlights the need for pre-conception and pregnancy  to be seen as a critical ‘window of opportunity’ to improve the health of the next generation.

Backed by stakeholders in early life nutrition, including baby charity Tommy’s, Borne and the Pre-school Learning Alliance, the report, ‘Early Nutrition for Later Health: Time to Act Earlier’, acknowledges the emerging evidence that a mother’s weight and nutritional status before, during and between pregnancies can have a long lasting effect on the baby’s health and the risk of disease later in life. In fact how and what mothers eat could potentially affect the health of future generations. 

The reality, however, is that we are not doing enough to take advantage of this opportunity. The report paints a picture of confusion and lack of advice for mums on nutrition and healthy lifestyles in pregnancy informed by a survey of 1,000 mothers and over 150 healthcare professionals:

• Just under half (46%) of mums said they made no changes to their diet after finding out they were pregnant
• 64 per cent of mums would welcome more advice or support relating to their pregnancy, with another one in two confused about the correct diet or supplementation for breastfeeding
• One in three healthcare professionals have had no training in nutrition in pregnancy or infant breast feeding and 43% had no training in obesity in pregnancy

“Pregnancy and pre-conception need to be our new focus.” says Dr Atul Singhal, Professor of Paediatric Nutrition at the UCL Institute of Child Health, and Chair of the ITF. “Although, the early years are now well-established as critical to influencing health outcomes in later life, and whilst the past ten years have seen a growing commitment to early years intervention, obesity is still a major public health issue that continues to threaten the health of younger people. England is the ninth fattest nation in Europe, and one in four seven to 11-year-olds are overweight or obese^[i]. That is why we need to focus earlier on in the life cycle, to influence nutrition and life choices from before conception through to preschool.

As we celebrate our 10^th anniversary there has never been a more crucial time to seize this opportunity for pregnant mothers to enhance the health of their child and for our health system to support them."   

In response to the findings, the ITF is expanding its educational remit to take a life course approach to nutrition and health, from pregnancy and infancy through to toddlerhood. The ITF’s aim is to support and empower healthcare professionals to help families to make healthy lifestyle choices by delivering clear, practical advice on those critical early windows of opportunity to provide children with the best start in life.

Gill Perks, Midwifery Matron, Antenatal and Postnatal Services, NHS, said: “This report supports the Department of Health’s mantra of ‘making every contact count’. In pre-conception and pregnancy we must not miss this opportunity to advise and influence a woman’s health, nutritional and dietary habits and midwives are in an ideal position to support women in this.

“The report supports greater emphasis within primary care of pre-conception clinics to guide all parents-to-be on nutrition and lifestyle. It also calls for action to increase the uptake of recommended vitamins and supplements during pre-conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding. It’s not just about giving information, we need to be able to support women to change behaviour by recognising what works for them and having the healthy conversation. A move I support.”

The first factsheet in the new pregnancy series, Healthy Eating in Pregnancy is available to download from the ITF website. To find out more information on health and development from pregnancy to preschool, visit the ITF website www.infantandtoddlerforum.org and sign up for monthly email bulletins with news and information about the Forum. 

If you have press office enquiries, please contact:

Louise Banks on 020 8971 6416 / lbanks@saycomms.co.uk, Samantha Williams on 020 8971 6420 / swilliams2@saycomms.co.uk  Neil Hardman on 020 8971 6419 / nhardman@saycomms.co.uk

Is your little rascal Britain’s most mischievous child?

Parents offered three-night trip away with Wooden Blinds Direct

Have your children been driving you up the wall with their unruly behaviour? Are they more little devil than little angel? Could they be Britain’s most mischievous child?

Wooden Blinds Direct, an online window blinds retailer, is on the hunt for Britain’s most mischievous child, and to reward the exhausted parents they’re giving away a short-stay holiday to recharge their batteries.

To enter Britain’s Most Mischievous Little Rascal competition, parents simply need to tweet their funniest photos of their little monsters caught red-handed to @InteriorGoods using the hashtag #IGDLittleRascals.

Alternatively parents can post their photos on the Wooden Blinds Direct Facebook page, or send them by email to woodenblindspr@interiorgoodsdirect.com. The entry stage of the competition closes at midnight on 1 December 2014.

The 10 funniest photos of the most mischievous children will then be posted on the Wooden Blinds Direct blog and the public will vote for their winner.

The parents of the winning #IGDlittleRascals entry will be whisked away on a three-night break, courtesy of Parkdean Holiday Parks.

Lee Fisher, Marketing Manager at Wooden Blinds Direct, said: “Every parent will have experienced their child driving them mad or making them laugh with the ridiculous mischief that kids get up to – and we want to help celebrate these moments.

“We’re a family-orientated business so we wanted to do something to give back to worn out parents that deserve a break!

“We want parents to share the kind of photos that’ll be out to embarrass their sons or daughters at family gatherings.

“We’re looking for the funniest, most outlandish photos of children up to no good. 

Full Terms and Conditions of the Most Mischievous Little Rascal competition can be seen here.