Digital News: Project Evaluation

My first thought when we were given the brief for this unit was that it would be a huge challenge. The project duration was six weeks which is the shortest period we have had for a project so far. The reason for this was because News is current and in the real world is put together very quickly. We were in groups of four for the project which was a reasonable sized team. We assigned roles for everyone once we had decided to go with Laura's initial idea, I was given the roles of Director for the live piece and Sound Operator. However, when it came to the shoot days we all switched to give everyone an opportunity to have their input. For example, I was on the camera for the studio shoot. I would say in reflection, this unit was the toughest yet. The pre-production stage started off very well with all of us pitching in our ideas. We came up with the branding of the channel and website as a team, deciding to go for clean, professional branding as our channel was regarding health. Therefore, we wanted to come across as serious when talking about the stories. We chose a white background with dark pink and blue text for both the graphics on the episode and on the website. We felt like using these colours against a white background didn't make it look too corporate but still retained the serious feel.
When it came to communicating with our contributors, Laura organised the interviews with Demelza, informing them on who we are and what the purpose of the channel is. They were very keen to be part of it which made filming very simple. I was in charge of the live piece and communicated with Groundwork and Ian - our interviewee. Again, Groundwork were very informative about the Kent Sheds scheme and keen to take part. In terms of the shoot days, we assigned roles again but everyone had the chance to pitch it on the day. Team work became an issue at times, especially on the Demelza shoot day which caused complications with the final footage. I would say that we should have had a few more meetings about team work on shoot days to ensure they all went smoothly as this was something we could've definitely improved on.
Time management would be another improvement for this project as well. The time constraints made it difficult to organise all of our shoot days as we had to find contributors who would be available within the next few weeks. It did feel a little pressured and we did two major shoot days in one week but  this worked out ok for editing. The editing process was relatively straight forward as we just needed to break down the interviews into transcripts, selecting the best sections. There were a few constraints in regards to the contributors talking a little too fast but we tried our best to resolve this and choose the best way to edit it. We also had a few sound problems whilst filming outside which was something we couldn't edit out of the final footage. However, we were able to learn from it and eliminate this in future. I am pleased with the final film and website and think that despite some of the issues we had, we managed to resolve them and make the most out of the footage we shot. I think that the factual programming units have been the most challenging but I have learnt the most from them.

Digital News: Studio Shoot (Take 2)

After looking at the footage for the studio shoot, we realised that the sound quality wasn't very good. We only used the zoom, as we felt confident that the sound quality would be good, having had good experiences with it on previous shoots. However, there was a rattly sound in the background which meant that the audio was unusable. In reflection, we shouldn't have just relied on the zoom and should have backed it up with a clip mic. Re-doing the shoot today has allowed us to get a little more experience with the lighting equipment and we were quite surprised as to how quickly we were able to set it up, with the knowledge from yesterdays shoot. The lighting was relatively simple, however, we did have some guidance and help from Ferg when playing around with some of the settings on the camera in order to get the professional studio look we were after. The filming itself was very successful. We spent a lot of time with the sound, adjusting the levels to make sure it wasn't peaking and that it was clear. Overall, the quality of sound was much better and I feel like we have learned from the previous shoot with only the zoom for sound.

Digital News: Studio Script (Presenter)

Today we finalised the script for the studio section of our news channel. We had already written a draft one and showed this to Helen before filming with Laura. She told us to be a bit more informative so that the companies such as Groundwork and Demelza were announced and explained. She told us to think about it as if we are audience members who don't know anything about it yet, therefore we needed to introduce everything and everyone before the interviews. We tried to make it sound descriptive but not overly in detail as we want the detail to be in the film piece. I think that it made the introductions sound more professional and interesting for the audience as well as giving them some background information before we cut to the interviews.

Digital News: Studio Shoot (Lighting)

This afternoon we filmed the studio element for our piece. We have chosen to have Laura as our presenter as this was the most practical decision. We also felt that working with Josh as our reporter proved to be a good decision as he knew what to do and felt confident being in front of the camera. Laura also said that she felt confident talking and it was easy for her to familiarise herself with the script as she was involved in the writing of it. Lighting was a huge element in this shoot. In order to compliment the white background on our website, we decided to use a white background for the studio introductions as well. We spoke to Ferg about the best option for this and he said that using an already white background and lighting this would give a very professional studio appearance without looking too flat. We thought that if we set up a green screen and then made it white using After Effects, it could look very fake and harsh against Laura. We set up the lights - using the new LED lights but felt that this was not strong enough to light both the background and Laura. With the help of Ferg we set up one of the other lights which we used to light the background with a blue tint to reduce the natural yellow tones of the light. This lit the back drop and then we could focus both of the LED lights on Laura. This made such a difference and eliminated a lot of the shadows on the face without looking too exposed.

For our sound, we used a zoom that was being held just under Laura to get the best possible quality. We decided to use the zoom because it had given us the most consistent sound throughout the project, having had some technical issues with the clip mic on the Demelza shoot day. We also used the Tele prompter to write our script onto so that Laura wouldn't have to try and learn it all. This also provided a good eyel-line so that it looked as if Laura was talking to the studio. I think that it was a successful shoot and we managed to get good coverage. However, I would say that I would like to learn more about the lighting equipment for future shoots as it can be so complex.

Digital News: Final Logo Design and Updated Website

After a rough cut viewing with Helen today, she had a look at our website design and graphics for the
films. She liked them but said that they had quite a corporate feel and looked a little bit dated. We wanted the website and the logo to look quite professional but didn't want to seem like a news channel that was out of date. After a group discussion, we decided to play around with the logo design and font rather than the colour scheme. We had thought in depth about the colour scheme and decided that it was still appropriate for our theme. In order to modernise the font and logo, Niki looked at other fonts using Fireworks to edit it. We decided to choose a font that was a little less formal and more simplified in order to give it a modern edge. We also took away one of the lines in the logo to simplify it even more, as well as changing the font to blue to incorporate both of our colours. The heart monitor line itself is slightly more rounded rather than having the harsh edges that it did before which makes it look more playful and less corporate. We have also updated the website following Helen's advice. She said that the side bars, which we had decorated with a repeated pattern made it look like a website for children, taking away from the professional and clean finish that we wanted to achieve. We agreed as a group that this would need to go in order to keep the website formal and sensible. I think that adaptions are a huge improvement from the original designs and look more modern, yet still retaining a clean and professional appearance. I will be adding all of the updated elements to the website so that each page will match with the new design.

Digital News: Editing

Laura wanted to be the editor for this project as this is something she really enjoys doing. Therefore, she has taken the lead role in this process. However, we have been editing primarily in the studios so we can all edit as a group and come to some collaborative decisions. We have been editing the introductions for the people we interviewed so that they are concise enough to include. In terms of the interviews themselves, technically the sound has been clear and easy to work with, particularly the interview with Alex. The use of self contained answers has made it quite easy to cut as each answer is seperate, allowing us to move sections of it around if need be. We originally intended to make the Tesco scheme section a separate package but after looking more into the brief, we needed to combine this with the Demelza section to make one package. We had a rough cut viewing with Helen today so she could see what stage we were at and to give us some constructive advice for improvements. She told us to cut down all of the interviews to fit in into one 2 1/2 minute package piece. She also said to limit the use of some of the GV's as a member of the crew filmed them hand held making them shaky and obvious in the edit. She liked the live piece but suggested we frame it a little better, making there less head room at the top, as well as adding a few more GV's to make it a little more dynamic. In reflection, we could've got a few more shots for our opening sequences to ensure that we cover every area from head to toe. I think that with a few tweaks here once we've cut each section down and added in the studio footage, it will come together as an episode.

Digital News: The Reporter and Presenter - Josh Jones and Laura Draper

We had a discussion as a group about finding a good reporter for the live piece for this unit. We originally considered a friend of Ellen's who works as a journalist and does some reporting as part of his job. However, his busy schedule meant that he was unable to find a gap in his work to film with us. We wanted to work with someone who would be confident and comfortable talking to others. The reporter would also have to be quite professional and be able to follow a script and learn questions. I suggested in the meeting that we ask Josh to be our reporter as he is very comfortable working in front of the camera. He is also very familiar with us and the project and would know what we wanted to achieve for the live piece and how his job role would contribute to the piece. We arranged a day to work on the live piece that would suit Josh and us so we didn't distract him from his own project. I would say in reflection, it was a very good choice. In terms of the presenter for the studio introductions, we also discussed as a group the best possible option. We did think about hiring from outside UCA but for practical reasons we decided to work with someone on the course. As the shoot with Josh as reporter worked successfully with him knowing exactly what he needed to do, we felt like working with another member on the course could also work in our favour. We have decided that Laura from our group will be the presenter. She in well briefed in what to say as her and I wrote the script for the studio section together, it also meant that we wouldn't have to ask a member of another group and distract them from their own work. Deciding to choose a team member also meant that we could take our time with filming to make sure it was how we want it.

Digital News: Sound Equipment (Improvements on Shoot Days)

In the Documentary unit last year we were in groups of three. I worked with Ellen and Laura who I am working with in this unit. An area that we encountered problems with was the sound quality on our shoot days and on the final footage. We struggled to get the right sound levels and it kept dropping in areas, this was evident in our interview with Julie. We also had issues with the sound peaking in this interview which downgraded the quality of the final film. When we decided to work together on this unit we had a discussion about things we wanted to improve on and sound was the biggest thing. We had a chat with Ferg who suggested we always take a zoom on shoot as a backup if the clip mic sound isn't of the best quality. We took this advice on board and have taken a zoom with us on every shoot. On shoot days we have been taking our time with the sound, assessing the levels by asking the interviewee to talk to a crew member whilst listening to what it sounds like and adjusting it. To get a good range of opinion we also got every crew member to listen to the sound and suggest any tweaks before we actually begin filming. Overall, I would say this has improved the sound quality significantly. Taking our time made a huge difference and the quality was so much better when we reviewed the footage. I would also say that the zoom was a great addition to the kit for these shoots as we did experience a loss in connection with the clip mic when we were outside interviewing Alison. When looking at this footage you can hear it cut out. However, we noticed it on the day and addressed it by asking Ellen to hold the clip mic in place whilst remaining out of shot. In the editing of the footage, the sound was ok but we decided to use the audio we had got from the zoom as it was more consistent.

Digital News: Demelza (Shoot Day)

Today we went to the Demelza House in Sittingbourne to film two interviews for the package story. We arrived at 10am as this was the time that was most convenient for the interviewees. We then met with Helen who we had organised the meeting through over email. She took us into her office space which was one of the quieter ones. We had a little scout around for possible interview locations for the one with Alex but decided that this office space would be the quietest and most suitable. Alex applied for the grant for the Tesco 'Bag of Help' scheme in order to receive funding for the sensory garden so we felt an interview with her could be very informative. Alex usually works in an office space so we dressed it a little by turning the radio off and moving a couple of things out of the way for the set up shots. We filmed her sitting at the desk typing and looking at the computer which we will use for her introduction. For the interview itself we instructed Alex to make the answers self contained as we weren't going to use an interviewers voice in the final film. The interview went very successfully with no technical issues - helped by the office location which meant we could really take our time to get the shots right. Alex was very comfortable in front of the camera and was able to give us some very in detail answers which will be great for the news piece.

For the second interview, we met Alison who is the assistant gardener at this Demelza House. She showed us round the area of land which is looking quite neglected at the moment. It is a relatively large space with varying slopes and compartments which will be great with all of the elements that they want to include for the new garden. We thought she would be good to interview as she knows what the plans are and what is going on currently which meant that she could tell us lots about it. She was very friendly and chatty when we spoke to her which was reassuring and made the process very easy going. Again we asked her to answer with self contained responses as we would not be including the voice of the presenter for this interview. She was also very chatty throughout the interview and it seemed successful. However, we had a found sound issues half way through the interview due to a lead connection on the clip mic. This meant that the sound was cutting out occasionally. We managed to resolve this by having Ellen holding the clip mic out of sight of the camera to keep it connected and started again. Despite this, the sound quality seemed fine. After the initial interview, we asked Alison to give us a little tour and tell us about the section the gardeners were currently working on. Lastly we used the last hour of filming to take a few GVs of the location including a metal tree they have on the wall. This was particularly interesting as the leaves all have writing on them which say who bought the leaf and therefore donated to the charity. Hopefully these shots will give the audience some insight into the charity and encourage more donations. Overall, it was a successful shoot day!



Here are the interview questions from today:

Alex
1. Why did you apply for the Tesco 'Bag of Help' scheme?
2. What was the collaboration with Tesco like during the process of the application?
3. What are your plans if you are granted the money?
4. How do you hope that the garden will benefit the children in your care?
5. Are there any other upcoming projects for Demelza?

Alison
1. Are the children able to use the garden in its current state?
2. What are your intentions with the garden?
3. How long do you think the process of renovating the garden will take?
4. How important is this renovation?
5. How was it decided that you would create a sensory garden?

Digital News: Risk Assessments

Here are some of the risk assessments from our shoot days - this one was from the Demelza Hospice shoot day. 

Digital News: Kent Sheds (Live) + Shoot Day

Originally, we were going to use our interview at Tesco for the live piece for this unit, however, after a meeting with Helen, she suggested we find something else. Helen said that there wasn't enough going on with the Tesco piece which would make for an interesting live element in our work. She suggested to find a current event which would show something happening at that moment in time to create a sense of atmosphere. After plenty of research into this, which was quite challenging seeing as it had to be something within the next couple of weeks, we found a stem from Groundwork who are the company which fund several charity events and schemes and have links with Demelza. This provided a great link between our package and the live piece. After looking at their page we decided to give them a call to ask about their 'Kent Sheds' scheme. This is a scheme which has projects all over the UK and aims to provide projects and groups for men as a way of socialising, sharing skills and interests, or just for company. It tends to appeal to men over the age of 55 - some of whom are ex-service men and gives them an exciting new group to socialise in. I spoke to a spokesperson for the company on the phone who told me all about the scheme and some of the local sheds in the area. He suggested a shed in Gravesend. He told me they were currently undergoing a project in boat restoration where the men meet up a few times a week and work in a workshop renewing and repairing old boats. We thought that this sounded like a great scheme as it was a charity based organisation which worked like a support group for older men and gave them a great opportunity to get involved in something with other men in the same position. We felt like this would give us a new angle for the channel as this was focussing on something that was mental health related rather than physical health - something we don't hear enough about. I contacted the organiser for this shed - Ian who said that he would be interested in taking part in an interview with us about the project.
We arranged to meet Ian and the other men at the promenade in Gravesend which is where the shed is located. It is a garage space underneath the promenade cafe and was well out of the way of the public. Inside there were small boats set up on work tops to the left and right. We met with Ian in the cafe and he took us to the garage to meet the other men. He told us the group was 10 in numbers, however, only two men were working on them this morning. In terms of the interview, the space was relatively limited, however, we set up the camera in the corner of one of the sections so that we could have Josh  (reporter) and Ian in the shot with the men working in the background. Josh and Ian ran through the questions briefly beforehand to give Ian some time to think through his answers - we decided to do this so that Ian would feel more at ease with the interview as we knew we could only shoot it once (twice if very necessary). It worked quite successfully. Ian was a very comfortable speaker and felt at ease with the questions, he was very informative too about the scheme which was very important as this will spread awareness for them. Overall the interview went very smoothly and was very successful with no technical issues.

Digital News: Website Development + Amended Logo

As a group we have been setting up the website for our online news channel. We had already decided on colour scheme when composing our logo and initial web ideas and think that we are going to continue to use this scheme for our web design. We have gone for a white background as we felt it was fitting with a medical theme and gave it quite a professional, clean finish. In terms of colours we went for pink and blue as they were quite contrasting with both each other and the background. We decided to use Wixite to create the website as this is a fairly simple template which offers some useful features and guides. Personally, I haven't created a website from scratch so this was totally new for me. We followed the general layout of the website they give you with a title at the top, a side bar and main page. We then decided to add some buttons that would link to other pages so that people can navigate around the website. Making buttons titled 'About Us' which would describe who we are and what our purpose is, a 'Video Gallery',which will allow us to put all of the films on one page to make it easy for people to scroll through them, a 'Get Involved' page where we have put links to the websites of the charities and organisations we have worked with throughout this unit. This should encourage people to donate or get involved in some of the schemes and events they run. We then also created a 'Contact Us' page with all of our personal emails so people can contact us and ask questions about any of our work.  We have made a side bar titled 'Articles' which will have links to the four articles we have written in reference to some recent events - all related to the theme. The website making process was quite simple and easy to do once we had got hang of the tools. 

In terms of the logo for the channel. When Laura and I were working on the colour scheme for the website, we decided that the original colours seemed a little washed out against the background and didn't stand out as much as we would have liked. We used the swatches on the colour wheel to change the tones slightly and go for slightly darker tones. We felt that this gave it not only a slightly more sophisticated feel but also helped to make it a bit more eye catching. We then changed this on the graphic by dropping the colours on photoshop and moving the text around to develop it and make the font look a little more formal which I think works nicely. Overall, I think that the develop has given the website a professional finish which is what we wanted to achieve as the theme is quite serious and formal. 

Digital News: Group Meeting (Development + Progress)

This afternoon we had a group meeting to discuss our planning and time management for the next two weeks. We have just arranged our shoot for the live piece next Tuesday but are just waiting for some confirmation from the leader of the Kent Shed in Gravesend. For the other part of the package we will be filming on Thursday at the Demelza House in Sittingbourne and have arranged that with the people we will be interviewing. In terms of progress with the unit so far I think we have communicated well, using a group message to talk as a group when we are not at Uni. We have tried to give everyone small jobs to do such as writing questions for the interviews and sharing out the boring bits such as filling out risk assessments and writing call sheets for the shoots. I think areas we could improve on would be to organise ourselves a little sooner in the next couple of weeks and really get started on the website so that we can get it to a professional standard and get all of the written work out of the way to focus on our edits before the deadline. One thing we flagged up in the meeting was that we all started with specific roles at the beginning but have decided to go with a more random approach when it comes to distribution of the work. This however, has worked in our favour and has meant that we haven't been restricted to certain things and have all contributed in each aspect such as writing the scripts.
We have also spoken about time management specifically, we aim to spread each task that needs to be done more evenly so that we can get the work done a little more gradually. Plans with filming and editing have all come around at once which has meant that we have been pushed for time with equipment. We agreed we should have spoken to contacts a little sooner so that there wouldn't be such a rush with filming and editing at the end and the process would have felt a little more gradual.

Digital News: Initial Graphic Designs

As a group, we had a discussion about the design for our online news channel. We decided that we wanted the channel to focus around health as a theme, covering a wide range from physical to mental health of people of all ages. We thought this would allow us to branch out our ideas and potential material for the channel rather than restricting it to a certain age group or condition. Originally, we thought to base it around donations and where the money is going but felt like this would make it too focussed around     money and not enough on what the money is actually doing. As health was our theme, we came to an agreement that we wanted the website to have quite a clinical, clean appearance and decided on white as a background colour. White also looks very professional and smart, something that we felt would work well as the channel will be discussing some serious subjects about real people and their personal stories and health problems. Therefore, a bright, colourful scheme would come across as quite playful and informal, rather unsuitable for our channel. In terms of name, we brainstormed many possible names, writing down several words such as 'health', 'channel', 'network', 'happy' etc. Combining a few of the words allowed us to get a feel for how the words would work together.

For a title, we wanted something catchy that would roll off the tongue and be easy to remember. I suggested the name 'Health Heroes' which was relatively short. I felt like using alliteration would make it recognisable and easy to say. The idea of heroes relates to all of the people we will feature doing good things and raising money for the health organisations, as without their input, charities wouldn't be able to continue. In keeping with the clinical and clean appearance for the title graphics, we decided that pastel colours would look best with the white background. They give the titles a subtle appearance which isn't too over bearing. We came to a decision for light pink and light blue, as they contrast each other but do not look too harsh. When thinking about how we would design the text, we wanted to incorporate a logo that would go with our theme and be recognisable and not too complex. A common symbol used for health related brands is a heart monitor. It looks simple yet effective and

having a line for the logo gave us something to put the lettering on. Niki has had experience with graphics and created the title graphics and brought in these sample images for the next discussion to get some feedback. We all felt like they were exactly what we pictured, with the colour scheme working well.  However, we will experiment with a range of fonts as a group so that each member can have some input into the final design.

Green-Screen Workshop/After Effects

Today and on Tuesday we have been taking part in a green screen workshop and after effects. Green screens are used in all kinds of TV programs and films and are evident in studio introductions for News channels. In order to introduce the stories for the episode, a presenter is often used in a studio to talk a little about these before the packages are played. It is not completely essential for the brief that we use a green screen but that is something that would make it look professional to achieve a studio look. We looked at two different methods for the green screen on Tuesday. One was the traditional method with a green curtain that completely fills the background, the other was a more modern method with a green light that is seated around the camera lens and send out a green light onto a silver pop-up screen. This manages to achieve the same look as the green material, allowing you to get the classic green screen background. This was a completely new experience for me and was really interesting to see how the two methods worked. The process of setting up the modern method was a lot less time consuming and simple which takes away from the long set up process. Today, we had an after effects workshop with Ferg to learn about how to turn the green screen into a background of your choice. Rather than using our own footage we were given some pre-recorded footage of a presenter sitting at a desk that had already been green-screened. He showed us how to use Adobe After Effects to add a new background. You have to first eliminate some of the tones to make the person in the foreground one defining shape. This helps it to compliment a new background when you edit. I found this workshop quite challenging as editing is an area I struggle with. However, I found it interesting to learn a new technique and Ferg explained each step in depth so we could use it in our own projects.

Digital News: Tesco - Bags of Help Scheme

In addition to the coverage we want to get at Demelza to find out about their sensory garden, we also want to include an element within the package which will tell the audience about the 'Bags of Help' scheme that Tesco have been running. This scheme works like the 'Community Matters' scheme by Waitrose which entails helping charities and raising funds by introducing the idea of tokens. Tesco have adapted this into their own scheme which involves choosing three shortlisted charities to support - guaranteeing them a minimum of £8,000 and a maximum of £12,000. The three charities are given a glass compartment which is labelled with the charity name. When customers receive a token after shopping at the store, they are encouraged to place it into one of the three compartments. The charity that gets the most token will win the top funds of £12,000 and the other two - £10,000 and £8,000. This is a great scheme as it raises a huge amount of money for all of the charities and promotes them to the public to encourage further donations. Demelza are one of the three shortlisted charities with the intention of using the funding to restore and completely renovate the garden area at the Sittingbourne hospice to create a sensory garden which will have lots of interactive features as well as being wheelchair accessible. By talking to a member of staff at the Tesco store in Sittingbourne, which we found out are hosting the token scheme, this will give us some background information to work with for our news piece. One of the managers, Daniel, has already said that they would be interested in filming a short interview with us to tell us more about the scheme itself and how it will benefit the charities involved. 

Here are the questions we have written for the interview: 

1. Tescos seem to be doing a lot of charity work at the moment, could you tell us more about what it is you are doing and where the money has come from? 

2. Can you tell us more about the Tesco 'Bags of Help' scheme?

3. How do you decide which charities get shortlisted?

4. Once they have been shortlisted, who decides which charity will win? 

5. What will the three shortlisted charities do with the money if they win?

6. Being a Sittingbourne branch, is this scheme specifically aimed at local charities and communities?

7. What are the benefits for Tesco?

8. Have you yourself been involved in the scheme? 

Digital News: Research - BBC

The British Broadcasting Co-opoeration (BBC) is a a British public service broadcaster. The headquarters are at the Broadcasting House in Central London. Unlike other broadcasters, it is completely funded by an annual television license fee which is charged to all households in the UK. Being the most recognised company for TV News, I thought I should do some background research into them. They are a very formal News channel, usually documenting very hard news from all around the world and not just from the UK. They show a few broadcasts throughout the day, with the most watched being the 6pm broadcast. Their set up is very formal with a desk and chair for the presenter to sit at. The surroundings are very spacious and empty with a few screens in the background. The screens show clips regarding what the presenter is talking about and will occasionally include text. In the background you can see some of the offices with people working in them to give the studio some depth.
I watched an episode of BBC News at 6pm to get a feel for their approach and style. The first thing that is very evident from the titles to the presenters is the formality. Everything has been carefully branded with the colour scheme being incredibly bold - the red in particular looks very serious. This is a colour used in the studio as well which gives it a real BBC stamp throughout. The content itself is very serious, they are usually reporting very serious news pieces regarding war and religion, which needs to be treated with professionalism to avoid complaints and offence. For our channel we want it to have the same feel as we are talking about some serious health issues and causes, therefore we will be addressing them in the same way.

Digital News: Our Chosen Idea (Demelza) + 25 Word Pitch

We were given a week to all research into our initial ideas before re-convening as a group for a meeting to talk about our development and choose one to pursue as a final idea. We all started with a particular story which would be the package piece for the channel. After thinking about the practicality of each idea, we decided to go with Laura's original idea. Laura told us that the charity Demelza have a hospice in Sittingbourne for children and often run events and fundraising days to raise money and awareness for the cause. Therefore, this should give us a good story to focus on for the package piece. Laura researched into her idea and found out that Demelza were chosen by the 'Bags of Help' scheme set up by Tesco. This scheme will raise a minimum of £8,000 for the charity, with the chance of winning the maximum £12,000. Like previous schemes set up by Waitrose, the competition works with tokens so shoppers will choose a charity to give their token to before they leave the store and decide the winner. Demelza have chosen to use the money to build a new sensory garden in Sittingbourne and replenish what was there before. This will make it look more visually exciting, as well as make it wheel chair accessible so all of the children at the hospice can enjoy it. The sensory garden itself will contain two bridges, a pond, plenty of attractive plants and decorations to create a Chinese water garden. However, the more funding this project gets, the more extravagant the final garden will be which will hopefully greatly benefit those there at the hospice. The Tesco store in Sittingbourne are carrying out the scheme which is where we plan to film one section of the package to give some background on how the money is being raised. We would also then want to visit the site in the Demelza hospice itself and interview a member of staff involved in the project to gain some information about it.


25 Word Pitch for Idea: This news channel aims to report the latest updates on how health related charities are being affected by donations,volunteering and local projects.

https://www.demelza.org.uk/about-us/news/latest-news/details/2016/09/12/tesco-shoppers-urged-to-vote-for-sensory-garden-project

Digital News: Research - Demelza

The Demelza charity was founded in 1994, named after Demelza   Phillips who died of a brain tumour at just 24. The company was inspired by the Acorn's Children's Hospice in Birmingham which was passed onto Demelza's parents who had the first idea for the children's hospice in the South East of England. Working with a few founding supporters, Jennifer and Derek Phillips set up the charity and began campaigning in several areas where the charity is now well established, attracting an increasing number of supporters. Development in 2004 when Demelza merged with James House, a charity founded by Robin and Mary Gooch, following the death of their 11 year old son James. This allowed the company to grow and expand as well as provide therapies and end-of-life care in the security and comfort of a child's own home.  Today, Demelza are a hugely recognised charity with branches all over the South East with extensive support. I have researched them by looking at the website for the charity and locating different areas. They have a 'support us' tab which is gives you plenty of options for getting involved including fundraising, charity events and donating. By giving people plenty of ways to get involved themselves allows people to give their time and effort rather than just their money by taking part in an event or project. This is one of the reasons why the company are so well documented as a lot of businesses get involved in charity events to raise money and awareness for them. You can also apply to work for them or become a volunteer if people are interested in getting involved in even more direct ways.